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Chapter Text

((We need seventy-four more gallons of paint on the floor, pronto!))

((Project four-hundred and sixty-three finished! Next group!))

((Get out of the way you little pests!))

((The model's melting! The model is melting!))

Ice blue eyes glanced up from time-worn pages as deep, guttural voices rang through the air spouting out orders and complaints as surprisingly dexterous hands quickly and efficiently assembled hundreds of delicate moving parts with skill that the modern world's most technologically advanced automated factories would never be able to match. Hundreds of thousands of toys, both simple and complex and each one bearing a touch of the workshop's magic were being assembled by the hairy hands of the bestial yetis even now, a mere month after Christmas had ended. The workshop was a wonder, polished red wood and wrought iron and gold held seven floors of furious activity, magic and technology blended seamlessly into a glittering palace nestled in the ice, the heart of which was the massive Globe of Belief.

The Globe itself was a work of art; cobalt seas parted golden continents that shimmered with millions of tiny, brilliant lights. It stood at the dead center of the workshop, visible on all levels including the high balcony where Jack Frost was perched, one leg swinging over the railing and shepherd's crook leaning against the wall within arm's reach. In his lap he held a large, leather-bound tome with an ornately stitched cover and yellow pages that smelled of herbs and ink. Every so often his eyes would flicker from the delicately penned script towards the Globe and the magically formed aurora borealis radiating from the gilded spire at its top.

It had been a fortunate coincidence that Jack had already been inside the workshop – Tome of the Guardians in hand – when North had sent the signal, though the old Cossack had yet to inform the youngest of their fold of the nature of the summons. The flurry of activity in the workshop never ceased, and as the rest of the Guardians had yet to arrive Jack had decided to finish reading the chapter he had been in the midst of when North had come bursting out of his office, cursing in Russian and activating the Northern Lights.

((Wrong, wrong, wrong! You got the wiring all mixed up! What will the boss say when he sees this, eh?))

That proved easier said than done, however. In the three years he had been a Guardian of Childhood Jack had grown used to the constant noise of the workshop. What he had yet to get used to was hearing the yetis' guttural language being translated directly into his head.

((Love? Jackie?))

Again, Jack's pale blue eyes left the tome in his lap, this time to meet the mismatched eyes of the tiny, humanoid creature perched comfortably atop his shoulder. Donned in sapphire blue feathers, the creature, much like Jack himself, radiated an aura of cold. Tiny crystals of ice decorated her already beautiful down and clung to her long, needle thin beak. A single white plume adorned the creature's forehead, complemented by thin, opalescent wings like those of a dragonfly.

((You haven't turned the page in a while.))

"Oh." Jack's eyes scanned the page. Ten minutes had passed since he had finished reading the text, yet none of it stuck. "Sorry Baby Tooth. It's kinda hard to concentrate with all the-" He paused, making a vague gesture with his free hand towards the workshop floors below. "-noise."

Nuzzling his cheek, the snow-fairy assured Jack, ((You'll learn to tune it out eventually, Love.))

This earned a smile from the frost spirit and he stroked his companion's silver feather with his forefinger, much to her delight. Just as he was about to return to his reading, however, the main doors to the workshop burst open, a flurry of ice and snow flying in along with a blur of grey and white fur. A pair of yetis rushed to close the doors even as the seven-foot-tall humanoid rabbit – Pooka, Jack silently corrected himself – raced up the spiraling ramps towards the balcony where Jack made his perch, and where a large fire was roaring in the fireplace.

"Hey Cottontail!" Jack called out, a playful smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Nice weather, huh?"

The Pooka, one E. Aster Bunnymund, sent Jack a withering glare as he came to a stop before the fireplace. Standing on one great paw, he held the other to the warm flames, massaging it gently but frantically in an effort to drive away the biting numbness.

"Oh stuff it, Frostbite."

The twittering of wings announced a second arrival. Baby Tooth perked up as her mother-self, the fairy queen Toothiana, arrived with three mini-fairies in tow. The mini-fairies immediately rushed to Jack's side, chirping in greeting, fawning over his teeth, and exchanging hugs with their frost-imbued sister. Their feathers, emerald and gold where Baby Tooth's were sapphire and silver, sparkled under the brilliant glow of the Globe of Belief making them appear as though they had been draped in gemstones.

"Oh Jack! You're early!" Toothiana cried as she descended through the roof.

She was at Jack's side in an instant, throwing her arms around his slender shoulders in a warm embrace, mindful though of the mini-fairies. Toothiana, as opposed to the fairy armies she commanded, stood no smaller than a human woman, though her body was draped in the same jewelescent feathers as her girls. Her eyes sparkled like a pair of amethysts and her head was crowned in blue and gold and green feathers.

"Eh, I was already hanging around," Jack replied with a halfhearted shrug. "Any idea what's going on?"

Toothiana replied with a mere shrug while behind her Bunny began to rant under his breath. Jack could only make out a few words, those few being 'blowhard,' 'freezing,' and 'belly,' along with some a Guardian of Childhood had no business repeating.

"Whoa Bunny! You don't hang around kids with that mouth, do ya?"

"Rack off."

"Make me."

"Boys, enough!" Toothiana hovered between the two of them, never mind the fact that neither of the pair had moved from their spots on opposite ends of the balcony. Bunnymund rolled his spring green eyes and settled down before the fire, back turned quite deliberately to the youngest Guardian. Jack, similarly, turned his eyes away from the Pooka, returning his attention to the tome in his lap. He was unable, however, to stop his lips from curling into a wicked smirk as his eyes swept across the page.

"Hey, Bunny."

Bunnymund's ear twitched, but he otherwise gave no indication that he'd heard Jack.

"Did you really look like this way back when?"

Suddenly the Easter Bunny was alert, leaping to his large feet with his ears rigid and spinning to face Jack. His eyes widened in horror as he took in the sight of Jack holding the Tome of the Guardians open to a very detailed sketch of Bunnymund draped in a thick, ornate lab coat with spider-like optical lenses strapped to his head. Stiff. Prim. Proper. Very much the opposite of how he was now.

"Oi!"

With an indignant cry the Easter Bunny launched himself at Jack, though the snow sprite had been expecting such a reaction. With a playful laugh Jack snatched his staff from its resting place before propelling himself over the edge of the balcony, tome tucked safely under his arm. The wind caught him before gravity could and carried him just out of Bunnymund's reach. Jack laughed again Bunnymund slammed his stomach against the rail in his frantic attempt to capture Jack and retrieve the tome.

"Can ya go five minutes without being a bloody nuisance ya gumby?"

"I'm the Guardian of Fun. You do know what fun is, don'tcha Bun Bun?"

"Enough, you two!" Toothiana's wings beat furiously as she hovered between the pair of bickering Guardians, silencing both Jack's laughter and Bunny's grumbling. Fixing the former with a pointed glare Toothiana held out one delicate hand.

"Now Jack, if you aren't going to settle down and read..."

With a sigh Jack handed her the tome, much to Bunnymund's visible relief.

"And Bunny!" His ears snapped up as he went stiff once again. "Cursing in front of a child? Shame on you," Toothiana scolded before flying off to return the tome to North's library. She remained unaware as Jack smirked at Bunnymund behind her back, mouthing the words 'shame on you' in parallel.

The Easter Bunny seethed in silence, turning his back once again to Jack Frost and the snickering fairy perched atop his shoulder.

The Sandman was the last of their fold to arrive. Like Toothiana he had traveled to the workshop via air, descending into North's realm in a massive hot air balloon crafted of golden dream-sand. The construct dissipated as the Guardian of Dreams touched down on the balcony alongside Bunnymund, Toothiana and Jack, each of whom welcomed him eagerly. The humanoid star answered each of them with a beaming smile and shifting shapes above his head written in his sand; a box topped with an elaborate ribbon, a long, smooth rod, and a question mark.

((North-pole-why?))

Jack struggled to keep his face neutral, though with everyone's attention on the fallen star no one would have noticed his discomfort anyway. The voice resounding in his head sounded far less human than the bestial noises the yetis made, and in truth didn’t so much resemble words at all, but rather wordless thoughts filled with impressions of meaning. The sign representing North had carried with it the echo of a jolly laugh, the memory of wide, bright eyes sparkling with wonder, and the faint scent of chocolate and pine needles that always wafted from his scarlet robe. The sensation was far from unpleasant and in fact brought a sense of comfort and warmth to Jack's otherwise cold body, but the Sandman's wordless voice was so alien that hearing it sent a rush of dizziness straight to the spirit's head and he was forced to lean most of his weight on the gnarled shepherd's crook in his hand.

The jingling of bells accompanied by the heavy fall of large boots interrupted whatever response Tooth or Bunny had prepared for the Sandman and announced the arrival of their host and a booming voice wrapped in a thick Russian accent cried out, "Ah, good. You are all here."

The leader of the Guardians, Nicholas St. North, only resembled his alias in passing, his title of 'Father Christmas' suiting him far better than 'Santa Claus'. A former Cossack bandit, North was both tall and wide, able to meet the willowy Pooka at eye level whenever their altogether too common arguments about Christmas and Easter broke out. His snow-white beard hung down to his large belly and his frosted blue eyes peered out at his comrades from beneath bushy salt-and-pepper eyebrows. North arrived already dressed for travel. Even under the red, fur-lined robe he wore Jack could see the hilts of two sabers tied to the sash around his waist.

The silly, clumsy, bell-wearing elves parted as North approached the rest of the Guardians, pointy hats and lolling tongues flopping in time with their bouncing steps. As he grew closer Bunnymund rose to his full height, ears slowly rising while Toothiana's wings went still and she lowered herself to her feet.

"North, what's wrong?" the fairy queen asked as she noted the shadow on her old friend's features. "Has something happened?"

Sandy created a question mark above his head and Jack was bombarded with: ((Concern-worry-desire to know-desire to help.))

Meeting Toothiana's eyes with a solemn stare North replied, "It is my mentor. He has seen signs of Pitch."

"Black sand and shadows?" Bunny said, attempting and failing to make light of the situation. "He normally takes centuries to recover. It hasn't even been a decade."

"I am aware, but I also trust my mentor's judgment. If Ombric says Pitch is making a move then I believe he is making a move."

Not one of the elder Guardians doubted Ombric. At the same time, none of them wanted to accept that Pitch had recovered so quickly either.

Fixing her normally peaceful expression into the fierce regality of the Queen of Fairies, Toothiana asked, "What exactly did he see North?"

"Traces of black sand in his machines, shadows falling where they should not. Fearlings may be at work."

"Any clues to what Pitch's up to?" Bunny asked.

"Not so far but-"

As the elder Guardians became more absorbed in their conversation Jack took a few silent steps back. He let the wind lift him silently to the railing where he knelt, watching passively and toying with the idea of sending a gust of cold air to douse the fire. Baby Tooth shifted on her perch, plucking at the crystals of frost that clung to Jack's blue hoodie with fingers the width of sewing needles.

Love, she whispered into his mind, her emotions melding into his. Jack smiled, comforted as always by her presence and her unequivocal love for him. Unlike the Sandman's alien words, hearing Baby Tooth's words echo in his mind felt natural. It was no different to him from hearing his own thoughts; her feelings were his and vice versa.

((Jack-friend-lonely-come?))

Speaking of the Sandman...

The bombardment of star-speak nearly caught Jack off guard and he looked up just in time to see the last of the Sandman's signs fade. Even so the fallen star was beaming at him, gesturing for him to join the group even as the other three continued to literally talk over his head.

A small smile gracing his lips, Jack stood and hopped down from the railing. The movement caught the rest of the Guardians' attention and the conversation came to a slow, clumsy halt. Baby Tooth took to the air as she followed Jack to join the other Guardians in their circle, standing between the Sandman and her mother-self.

"Ya don't need to stand off to the side all the time, gumby," Bunnymund chastised without any real heat. Jack shrugged.

"You guys looked like you had a good flow going," he replied. "I didn't want to interrupt."

"You're one of us, Jack," Toothiana said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You wouldn't be interrupting."

So she said, but when they fell into a routine six-hundred years in the making, it really didn't feel like there was any room left for him. Even as the thought entered his head, Jack brushed it aside.

"Sure, whatever you say," the snow spirit laughed, waving his hand as though to scatter her assurance. "So what's the plan? We charge in and send 'em running?"

"Nyet, first, we go to Big Root-" Nobody missed how Jack's face lit up. "-Then we investigate." North turned on his heel and began to march towards the giant, acorn-shaped elevator that connected the levels of the workshop. "Everyone, to the sleigh!"

Jack bounced on his heel, childish and eager. "Can I drive?"

Toothiana and Bunnymund shouted in unison. "NO!"

Like most of North's inventions, the sleigh was a seamless mix of advanced technology and ancient magic, propelled by a combination of shag-furred, wild reindeer and a powerful rocket engine. Even more amazing, in Jack's opinion, were the colorful snow globes North kept in his coat. A single shake could create an extremely detailed model of whatever destination the user whispered to the glass out of thousands of swirling flakes of colored snow. This was what North did once his sleigh was airborne, and Jack only just caught a fleeting glimpse of a massive, gnarled tree inside the orb before North pitched it into the air ahead of them. The snow globe exploded into a swirl of color and light and the reindeer drove the sleigh through without so much as a pause.

The scene before them – the snowy peaks against the backdrop of sparkling stars and radiant lights – melted away, replaced by brilliant blue skies and rich greenery. Jack slid out of his seat and made himself comfortable on the wing, much to Bunnymund's dismay. Jack ignored the Pooka's panicked order for him to climb back inside the vehicle in favor of taking in the sights below.

Miles of forest stood between the a wall of thorns as long as spears and the Guardians' destination. A midst the trees Jack caught a fleeting glimpse of a bear, larger than any he had seen in his three hundred years of wanderings. As Big Root grew closer Jack also caught the eye of a woman standing in the dead center of a garden of ugly statues. The woman's green eyes glittered up at him, even over the distance and when Jack waved at her she waved back, spilling gold coins from her palms as she did.

"Uh, hey North," Jack shouted over the wind, "Why does that woman have statues of your elves?"

North threw only a passing glance at the woman.

"Ah, is Spirit of Forest. Statues are not statues. Statues are intruders."

"Whoa."

The titanic oak tree dubbed Big Root by the Guardians stood at the heart of the forest. Its trunk rose miles into the air and was so thick around that Jack guessed one hundred people standing hand in hand wouldn’t have been able to wrap themselves all the way around. The lush foliage nearly blocked out the sun, yet light still poured from glittering golden windows that appeared to have grown from the tree itself.

Bunnymund was first out of North's sleigh when they touched down in front of Big Root. Jack laughed at the Pooka as he very nearly hugged the ground before remembering himself and straightening his stance, sending Jack a withering glare for good measure. As the last of them climbed out of the sleigh the massive, curling roots of Big Root unfurled themselves from the base of the trunk, revealing a wide archway out of which stepped an old man draped in silver robes that were decorated with cogs and clockwork. He had a beard as long as his body. Thick, bushy eyebrows that looked like clouds that had been plucked from the sky and glued to his forehead and leaned his weight on a smooth, moon-colored staff with an old, ornate clock for its head.

"Nicholas!" the old man cried out, arms sweeping out in a grand motion as he welcomed his guests.

"Ah, Ombric! My old friend!"

North swept up the frail old man in a hug and Jack winced as he swore he heard something snap in the old man's body. But North settled the man back down and he appeared to be no worse for the wear.

((It has been far too long my apprentice. Tell me, how have you fared? And your workshop? I have heard wonderful things about it,)) the old man jibbered in Old Atlantian.

A merry laugh rumbled from North's belly which he patted on for emphasis.

((Am doing well with yetis' cooking. You should come to workshop sometime, have some cocoa.))

It was strange to hear a language so completely foreign that Jack wasn’t even sure if he could replicate all of its sounds spoken with North's very obvious accent. North spoke Atlantian a just bit more clumsily than he did English.

((Ah, and this must be..?))

Jack stood just a bit straighter as the old man's eyes fell on him. North instantly beamed at Jack, placing a burly hand on Jack's shoulder and giving him a light nudge in the wizard's direction.

"Our newest Guardian," North said with the tone of a father showing off his favorite son. "Jack, this is-"

"Ombric Shalazar," Jack cut North off, breath slightly short from excitement. He held out his free hand to North's mentor. "I read about you in the Tome of Guardians."

((Ah! You speak Atlantian very well!)) Ombric exclaimed as he shook Jack's hand. ((Perhaps you should work with my apprentice on that, eh? Between you and I, he sounds a bit out of practice.))

Jack laughed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as North parroted his mentor's words under his breath.

"Actually, ah, no. I don't," he admitted as a small weight shifted in Jack's hood and a moment later Baby Tooth was settling on his shoulder. Ombric's eyes went wide in astonishment.

"Jack Named her," Toothiana explained as Ombric took in the sight of the silver-blue fairy with swirls of frost not unlike the ones clinging to Jack's clothing and staff. The wizard stroked his beard with twig-like fingers.

((Ah, I see. The fairy received Winter Magic, and you in turn received the Gift of Tongues,)) he mused, more to himself than anyone else. ((This is quite fascinating. I honestly cannot remember the last time I have seen a bond like this formed. You must be a very special young man.))

Biting the urge to point out that he was well over three-hundred years old, Jack nodded and said, "Thank you."

((Now come! All of you!)) Ombric made a grand sweeping motion with his hands and gestured for the Guardians to enter the archway in the base of Big Root. ((Please, come in and make yourselves comfortable. There is much to discuss, not all of it good.))

As large as the trunk looked from the outside, it seemed infinitely larger on the inside. Much of the furniture appeared to have been grown rather than made, the wood jutting from the floor and walls to create natural shelves, tables and chairs. But there was a mechanical quality to it too, brass work cogs and gears serving as decorations and clocks of every size, shape and style covering the walls and shelves. The ticking of thousands of clocks merged with the hum of insects – all of which rang in Jack's head as a million whispering voices scrambling to be heard over one another. The result was a constant drone that had little to no meaning to the winter spirit aside from an overall sense of panic.

Ombric led the Guardians up, up, and up a winding staircase, high above where the clouds hung in the sky. The three airborne Guardians faced little difficulty with the steep climb, nor did the surprisingly hardy Father of Time. Bunnymund grumbled a bit, but the eons-old rabbit had the stamina and musculature to withstand the brutal climb.

"Bah!" North huffed as the group ascended to the seventy-third level. "Too many stairs! Is time you invested in elevator!" The Guardian of Wonder's face had gone red and his breath came out in heavy pants.

((Son, if you would just lay off of the Christmas cookies you would not be having this problem.))

"There is no problem with Christmas cookies!" North protested. "I am fit as an ox! Am just needing there to be fewer stairs."

((This is what you get for spoiling yourself with those gadgets you fancy.)) Ombric paused as they reached the end of the staircase, beneath a gilded star-sand window. With a wave of his hand Ombric unlatched the window and climbed through, leading the Guardians after him.

Midst the highest branches of Big Root stood a well-kept observatory, bronze plates worked almost organically around the branches that had grown naturally into the domed roof. The cavernous space was lit by eight torches posted evenly along the wall and alight with cold, blue flame. Four massive clockwork telescopes made of polished brass and moonstone were arranged around the room so that each pointed in a different Cardinal direction through the weaves of branches which grew around the lengths of the scopes. The centerpiece of the room was a machine the likes of which Jack had never seen. Levers and gears jutted out from the mass of curling metal almost at random. Nine mirrors were suspended on a dial which freely rotated around a large glass container shaped like a flower bud. Jack kind of thought it looked like a giant teapot, if he squinted and turned his head just so.

"Wow," Jack breathed, immediately flying ahead of the group to get a closer look at the bizarre contraption.

Upon closer inspection he found that the mirrors weren't actually mirrors at all, or at least they didn’t work like normal mirrors. In the glossy surface of one he saw a tiny girl with a mane of wild red hair follow a trail of wisps into the shadows of a forest, toy bow clutched tightly in hand. Another showed a dark-skinned infant collecting colorful shells from the sandy beach, ocean waters parting to allow her to safely gather her treasures. In another he saw two young sisters playing in a grand ballroom... filled with snow. Baby Tooth seemed to especially like the last one, floating from Jack's shoulder to get a better look as the elder sister transformed the floor into a skating rink.

((Ah, you like that do you?)) the Atlantian sorcerer asked as he approached Jack. ((This is my pride and joy. With this I am able to watch events unfold as they have in ages past, or as they will in ages yet to come.))

"So it's a time machine?" Jack asked without removing his eyes from the image.

((Yes, and also I fear the Pitch's target in my home. It is here that I have seen the unusual shadows, and sometimes I will return to find the settings have been changed overnight, without my overseeing them.))

A solemn silence fell over the room and Baby Tooth retreated back into Jack's hood, remembering sourly her last encounter with the King of Nightmares. In the mirror the sisters' game took a dark turn, the elder accidentally striking the younger with a blast of ice in a moment of panic.

"How did Pitch even get in?" Toothiana asked. "Why didn't the star sand-glass keep him out?"

((I do not know that it has not,)) Ombric admitted. ((All I have seen thus far are shadows, and only at night. Still, I did not wish to take chances.))

Over on the other side of the room from where Jack and Ombric stood Bunnymund gave an approving nod.

"Good call mate."

The Pooka's eyes were fixed on something on the floor, and as North approached he saw Bunny scraping something off of the wood with his nails. Black sand.

"When was the last time you saw Pitch?"

((The Nightmare King himself? Six hundred years ago. His minions? I believe this morning, just before the sun rose.)) Ombric stroked his beard. ((That is, assuming it was a Fearling and not a silly moth playing near the torches.))

"And what exactly did you see?"

((At first, nothing. I came up here because of a moth complaining that there was something wrong with the lights. I thought she just meant they were going low, but when I got up here they were burning as strongly as ever, flickering and dancing as flames are wont to do. The shadows, however, did not move an inch. It was as though they were frozen in time.))

Signs flashed above the Sandman's head; the silhouette of the boogeyman, two streams of sand that shot out of his ears like smoke, a boxing-glove striking the silhouette, and two hands with their pinky fingers intertwined.

((Pitch-anger-defeat-promise.))

Jack and Baby Tooth exchanged looks before turning their eyes to the floor and their own shadows. Shifting so that he was standing in front of the torch sconce, Jack observed the way his shadow flickered and spun in time with the cold flame. Vaguely, he remembered being trapped inside Pitch Black's realm with the Nightmare King himself slinking through the shadows, taunting him. Jack was proud of himself for suppressing the shudder that threatened to work its way up his spine.

"And you have seen other such things?" North asked, bushy brows furrowed.

((Many times over the past few days,)) Ombric replied gravely. ((I have tried everything I could to banish them, but not even the brightest light seems to have any effect.))

"Then we'll take a crack at it," Jack said, flashing the old wizard a playful grin. "C'mon, how hard could it be?"

This earned a chuckle from Ombric.

((Very, but I like your enthusiasm.))

Again, Ombric made a grand sweeping gesture with his arms. He seemed rather fond of grand sweeping gestures, Jack thought. Maybe it was a wizard thing.

((Come, let us all rest. Out enemy is most active at night and so we must also be thus!))

Once upon a time Big Root had been a center of learning open to any and all who had an honest desire to study under Ombric Shalazar's guidance. Time had seen that period of Big Root's history ended. Had it just been a matter of belief dying out, Ombric's teachings might have nonetheless survived, if not flourished. But the witch trials had seen Big Root's doors barred forever to the mortal world, Father Time taking a more indirect approach in the guiding and teaching of children.

As such, the sleeping quarters that had once been occupied by Ombric's wards now stood empty, ready for the Guardians to lay their heads. The wooden frames of the bunk beds – as the rest of the furniture inside of Big Root – appeared to have been grown rather than made. The mattresses were stuffed with giant snow-goose feathers and the sheets made from spun glowworm-silk. Three of the eldest four Guardians laid down in the offered beds appreciatively, Toothiana directing her three accompanying fairies to take over operations in her stead and the ever-present streams of dream-sand rising from Sandy's sleeping form atop his cloud. Sleep took them almost immediately despite the fact that each of them – save for Sandy – was used to getting by on very little sleep. Only Jack hung back from the offered respite.

((You will be needing your rest,)) Ombric insisted, urging him forward.

"No, I'm fine," he said.

((Are these rooms not to your liking?)) the old wizard offered. ((I have other rooms with equally comfortable beds, if it is more privacy you require.))

"It's not that," Jack insisted while Baby Tooth hummed in his ear. "I don't sleep."

Much, he might have added. Just one night each month, but Jack kept that bit to himself. Otherwise the senior Guardians might never have given up pestering him into moving into one of their hideouts and sleeping in a normal bed like a 'civilized' human being. Granted, Jack was fairly certain that the Sandman knew, but the Guardian of Dreams allowed him his secret.

((You do not?)) The old wizard raised an eyebrow, stroking his long, silver beard curiously. ((Fascinating, I have met few spirits that do not sleep at all. Ah, well. Since sleep is out of the question, what say you to a hot- to a meal?))

Jack considered for a moment, thought about turning him down. Then he glanced towards the Guardians, his friends, sleeping soundly in Ombric's home.

"Sure, I guess we could eat."

((Ask him if he has strawberries!)) Baby Tooth chirped.

Ombric ushered the two winter spirits out the door. As they walked away the doorway wound itself shut, the wood as smooth as if the opening had never existed in the first place.

"So you got any strawberries?"

Ombric did have strawberries, as well as blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, fruits of every color, size, and shape. They were served as jams slathered on bread or baked into sweets or brewed into ciders alongside plates of roast fowl, fish, and sausages, mashed potatoes, yams, green beans, corn on the cob, and boatloads of gravy.

"You having a party?" Jack asked as he took in the sight of the banquet before him.

((Do you think it too much? It has… been a while since I hosted company,)) the old man admitted. With a wave of his hand, steam began to waft from the hot plates and the frozen bubbles in the pitchers and glasses were allowed to float to the surface as time resumed for them. ((Longer still since I have had children in these halls.))

A familiar ache tugged at Jack, and he threw on a warm grin.

"Nah, not even!" Jack plucked a sugared date between his thumb and forefinger and Baby Tooth made a beeline for the chocolate-drizzled strawberries. "It's probably a good thing we got here before North and Bunny. 'Specially Bunny."

Turned out, magical shapeshifting rabbits had wicked fast metabolisms.

((Then by all means!)) Ombric said, smiling wide under his flowing beard. ((Eat to your heart's content.))

Jack plucked some grapes from the center of a plate of biscuits and cheeses and froze them solid before popping them in his mouth while Baby Tooth zipped from the strawberries to a plate of sugared dates.

((I also thought perhaps we might talk a while. Nicholas has told me a bit about you and I must admit, I am quite curious.))

As he spoke, Ombric took a seat at the head of the table. He didn't take any food for himself. He simply sat, resting is elbows on the surface and interlocking his fingers so he could rest his chin on them. He didn't seem to notice or care when his long, billowing sleeves ended up in a bowl of cranberry sauce.

"Only good things, I hope." Jack sat as well, not properly in the seat of the chair but atop the back rest, staff resting against his shoulder.

((But of course! He was most eager to share stories of the newest Guardian. Tell me, is it true your abilities were granted to you by the Man in the Moon himself?))

Jack rolled another grape between his fingers and nodded. Ombric's bushy brows practically flew off of his face.

((Fascinating! I wonder why… Oh, I mean no offense, it is just that such a thing has not happened before. Not quite like this. I truthfully had no idea it was even possible.))

It was something Jack still struggled to wrap his mind around himself; that, while the other Guardians had been chosen by the Man in the Moon, they hadn't been created by him. Not anew, like Jack thought he was in the beginning, and not transformed from anything or anyone else. Their abilities and forms were their own. Ferns of frost wrapped around the grape in his fingers before Jack popped it in his mouth.

"Well, I don't think a scrawny kid with a stick would've made a very good Guardian," Jack said, rolling the grape on his tongue. He swallowed it whole. "And it wasn't like there were a whole lot of new wizards or spirits popping up by the time I was made."

((And that is part of what makes your existence so perplexing… and fascinating! In a time when belief in magic had begun to wane, Tsar Lunar saw fit to transform an ordinary human into a Child of the Golden Age. You must have done something quite remarkable to have impressed him so.))

Impressing Manny, Jack thought as he froze yet another grape, seemed to be a double-edged sword. Baby Tooth looked up from the honeydew slice she was working on, frowning at the pensive look on her larger half's face. The melon was forgotten as she flew to his shoulder. With a smile, Jack offered her the grape which she accepted with a fond smile of her own, even though it was about the size of a football in her tiny hands.

"Actually, in comparison to you guys' adventures, it was something pretty small. Definitely nothing close to fighting fearlings in the center of the Earth."

His life was, after all, a rather small thing.

Baby Tooth felt Love and pride for him nonetheless.

((Small acts of heroism,)) Ombric said, as though sensing Jack's thoughts, ((are perhaps some of the most important.))

Jack shrugged.

"Maybe. Hey, actually, can I ask you some questions? You called me a Child of the Golden Age, but the first I've really heard about it was when I read the Guardians' tome, and a lot of the stuff in there was kind of vague."

((By all means! Ask awa-)) Ombric cut himself short as he raised his hand to make another grand, wizardly gesture and accidentally sent the bowl of cranberry sauce toppling to the ground. Along with his hand. ((Ah!))

Jack tilted his head. Ah?

"You're an automaton?" Jack asked, eyeing the brass cogs and clockwork in the hollow of the man's wrist.

((This body is,)) Ombric corrected as the hand skittered across the floor, spider-like, crawled up the leg of the nearest chair, hopped to the armrest, then to the table, then skittered over to the wizard himself. ((Blasted thing; for five hundred years it has held up and now it is constantly falling apart!))

((Ombric Shalazar doesn't have a material form anymore,)) Baby Tooth explained as the wizard fiddled with his hand. ((He once did, but he gave it up in a battle long ago, before I separated from Mama.))

"Really?"

((Really what, my boy?)) Ombric asked, looking up from his hand, which he'd somehow managed to attach backwards.

"Did you really… Can't you understand Baby Tooth?"

((I am afraid the language of the Tooth Fairies is one of the very few I am not acquainted with. What did she say?))

"That you gave up your physical form in some big battle."

((Ah, yes; the battle on the surface of the moon. Perhaps you recall it from our tome?))

Jack shook his head.

"Didn't get that far yet."

((I see. Well, I was unfortunately quite badly wounded, but my magical prowess was so great I was able to persist even after my body faded. However-)) He grunted as he popped off the backwards-facing hand. ((-a metaphysical, incorporeal form of pure thought and memory makes for a rather poor host, so on the rare occasions I entertain guests-)) The hand snapped back into place with a firm click. ((-I inhabit this mechanical djinn much like one does a suit.))

"Cozy," Jack commented.

((Quite!)) Ombric replied sincerely, holding his newly attached hand up for inspection and wiggling his fingers. ((Incredibly lifelike, no?))

At that moment the thumb dropped into a gravy boat, and both Jack and Baby Tooth burst into giggles.

"So what what happened on the moon?" Jack asked as he leaped from one tree branch to another, bounding up the stairs by the dozens as he and the wizard made their way up to the workshop.

((It was one of the last great battles of the Dark Ages,)) Ombric began, silvery robes trailing after him, ((Pitch Black attempted to launch an assault against the moon itself. We drove him back, but… at a great cost to ourselves.))

As Ombric stopped before a wall that peeled back to become an elegant archway, Jack swung down from his perch to follow the old wizard inside. The hum of ticking clockwork filled the room they stepped into, produced by countless intricate machines in various states of repair, modeled after birds and beasts and men. Jack paused by a workbench atop which three clockwork mice scampered about, picking up tools and gears and working steadily to repair the leg of a glass rabbit.

((As I mentioned, I gave up my physical form in that battle. Pitch had managed to turn some weapons of the Golden Age against us and… we lost a dear friend to him.))

Jack's eyes snapped up from a mechanical ladybug that had caught his attention. Ombric had made his way over to a row of duplicate humanoid automatons, each of them modeled after his current form. The only difference from one to the next were minor changes in the patterns stitched along the hems and the sleeves, or the gleam of the gemstone clasps or the hue of the vibrant fabrics. Ombric lifted the limp arm of one of the life-sized marionettes and twisted the hand from the wrist.

"I know how that feels." He twisted his staff in his hands. "I'm sorry about your friend."

((Your compassion is appreciated. It is a shame you and young Nightlight shall never have a chance to meet; you would have got on quite well, I think.)) Ombric flexed his new hand as it clicked into place, rotating the wrist and wiggling the spindly, lifelike fingers.

Humming thoughtfully to himself, Jack asked, "What about Mother Goose? Isn't she still around?"

((Ah, she is, but… She stepped down from her role as a Guardian after that last great battle. Losing her dearest friend took a heavy toll on her. On top of which, she and I do not quite have the same following as the other four.))

Satisfied that his new hand was secure, Ombric turned to face Jack fully, somber smile pushing up the ends of his mustache.

((We still guide and protect children, in our own ways, but retirement was the safest course of action for the both of us. Now come, let us speak of more pleasant things.)) He swept through the workshop with the grandeur of someone who did not have cranberry sauce and gravy all over his sleeves, Jack shaking his head fondly as he followed after. ((Tell me, is there any truth to these rumors that you were behind the great snowballing of 1896?))

Ombric and Jack spoke for hours as they waited for the sun to go down. Jack told the old wizard stories of his travels across the globe, days spent searching for other spirits and playing with wild animals and invisibly playing tricks on humankind. Ombric gave Jack many stories as well, particularly about the students he once loved so dearly. He filled in a lot of details from the old days that the Tome of Guardians glossed over or kept vague; Jack was delighted to hear about the time Fog tied strings of bells to either end of North's mustache while he slept, or when Sascha successfully convinced Bunny – through the nigh irresistible magic of puppy dog eyes – to eat a chocolate just so he could use his extra arms to get six games of skip rope going at once.

Not all of his stories were so cheerful. There were also times when the children were sick or scared, beings other than Pitch and his allies who would attack Santoff Claussen, scared, simple people who once attempted to set the forest ablaze to smoke out the 'evil' wizard. Ombric described everything with such vibrance, he seemed able to recall even the smallest details from those days centuries past. And Jack absorbed it all. He loved telling Jamie and Sophie stories – his and the other Guardians' – and he was sure they'd love to hear Ombric's as well.

Time seemed to stretch on and on – and maybe it did; Jack wondered if perhaps Ombric stretched out time just a little so they could squeeze more stories into their afternoon – but eventually the time for tales drew to a close.

Ombric woke the rest Guardians just before sunset and let them eat their fill of the feast he had prepared. As Jack had guessed, it was Bunnymund and North who did the most damage. Bunny especially, who had three stomach and ate like it. Now understanding why Ombric didn't join them for the meal, Jack noted the way the old wizard beamed with pride at the sight of the Guardians enjoying his food. He wondered if the old wizard missed the taste of food himself. Not wanting to let Ombric's hard work go to waste, Jack helped himself to generous portions as well. It felt like he ate more that night than he had in the past year. By the time the Guardians had eaten their fill, night had fallen.

Where the never ending tick-tock-tick-tock had been irritating by daylight, it was downright creepy in the dark of night. The clamoring of the insects did little to lessen the effect; the overall atmosphere was eerie and Jack found himself wondering if this was really the same warm and welcoming place he and Ombric had spent all afternoon sharing stories in. Only the blue-green glow of the magically lit torches kept the darkness at bay, though watching the shadows dancing in the unnatural light was far from reassuring.

Still, Jack supposed, better that the shadows were moving rather than lying in wait ready to pounce as Ombric had described. Baby Tooth whispered similar sentiments into his ear.

((It may be hours yet before the Fearlings or strange shadows appear,)) Ombric pointed out. ((It was just before sunrise the last I saw them myself.))

"We're used to pulling all-nighters, mate," Bunnymund pointed out. To emphasize his point he gestured to Sandy who even then was directing his streams of dream-sand which passed through the star-sand windows as though they were no more than air.

Even so, the hours passed slowly. Tsar Lunar made his ascent into the night sky, though he went unseen by the Guardians. At some point Toothiana had begun muttering to herself, rattling off a never ending list of teeth to be retrieved and gifts to be left, never mind the fact that her faeries were overseeing themselves for the time being. Bunnymund took a single unpainted egg from one of the leather pouches strapped to his furry chest, a paintbrush and some small vials of paint from another, and began to painstakingly decorate the blank shell. Still, his nose never ceased twitching and his ears swiveled this way and that, ever alert even with his intense focus.

Jack found it far more difficult to keep himself occupied. He paced the room, frosted the windows, poked and prodded Bunnymund until the Pooka snapped at him, played a rousing game of 'eye spy' with Baby Tooth (made redundant by their shared thoughts) and eventually settled on watching the scenes in the dials of the time machine.

Ombric was in and out of the observatory all night. He walked the entirety of his home, he said, just in case the Fearlings took note of the Guardians' presence and made their rest elsewhere in Big Root. Every so often the old wizard returned to check on the observatory, not appearing to be in the slightest bit reassured when nothing changed. Once when he checked up on them he brought with him a tray holding several mugs of tea and cocoa – tea for the adult Guardians and, he insisted, North, and cocoa for Jack and for Baby Tooth to whom he served the drink in the cap of an acorn.

"Thank you," Jack said as he and his fairy accepted their drinks, noting Ombric had finally changed out of the cranberry-stained robe. The crackling sound of frost climbing over the mug filled the air the moment Jacks' fingers touched the ceramic, and slowly the curling tail of steam that rose from the brown liquid faded from view. Ombric watched intently as Jack took his first sip of the now cool liquid, eyes slightly wide. Jack didn't have to try hard to pretend not to notice; the moment the drink hit his tongue he nearly forgot that the elder was there at all.

The chocolate was rich and smooth, and tasted like wintergreen and snow-filled air. The flavor brought to mind images of snowball fights and frosted windows and icicles sparkling in pale morning sunlight. Jack's nostrils stung with the same crisp coldness that winter air brought, a sensation he found far from unpleasant.

"This is amazing!" he cried, unable to put to words quite how amazing it was. Ombric chuckled, obviously pleased by the inarticulate praise.

((From the looks of things, it seems your tiny companion quite agrees.))

Indeed, Baby Tooth had drained her cup completely and was holding the ice-rimmed acorn cap out to Ombric as though to say 'seconds please.' Jack plucked the acorn cap from her fingers and refilled it from his own drink as Ombric went on.

((I acquired the recipe from my dear friend Bunnymund, though I admit to experimenting with it a bit.))

Without looking up from his egg Bunnymund huffed, and muttered something about humans under his breath.

((I'd assumed that it would be better hot, but you seem to like it just fine as it is, eh?))

"I've never had anything more delicious," Jack admitted. Then, looking over his shoulder to the Guardian of Wonder, he added, "No offense North."

North ignored him in favor of grumbling over his tea.

Jack turned back to the image in the time machine's dial, continuing to sip his cocoa as he did. The image this time showed a boy, short and thin with a light dusting of freckles across his face and a shaggy mess of brown hair. The boy in the image was falling through the air, wind rippling his hair and green woolen tunic as he plummeted towards the ocean miles below, though the look on his face was one of pure elation. Mere moments before the boy would have hit the rocky waves a streak of black cut through the air and the boy was rising again, now seated in a streamlined saddle strapped to the back of a creature both feline and reptilian in appearance.

((It's rather fascinating, isn't it? How much of history the world has forgotten?)) Ombric murmured. ((The dragon-riders among the vikings of the Barbaric Archipelago have long since faded from living memory, and yet here we see them, plain as day.))

The boy in the mirror joined a group of other teens, each of whom also rode a dragon, though not a one rode the same species aside from the lanky, blond-haired brother and sister who each rode atop a head of the same two-headed reptile.

"I thought vikings didn't actually wear horned helmets?" Of the teens shown in the image, only two weren’t wearing helmets, and those that did had very prominent horns protruding from the metal.

((The vast majority didn't, that's true,)) Ombric explained. ((But in a tribe of dragon riders? Of course they would include as much draconic imagery in their dress and their crafts as possible.))

"Do you watch them a lot?" Jack asked without taking his eyes off of the screen. A second boy, much burlier than the first with darker hair, attempted to imitate the first boy's stunt with little success; Jack forced himself to stifle a laugh as the rust-colored, serpentine dragon with the dark, crooked horns and massive wings continued to fly, not noticing its rider's absence.

((Oh yes. As much as I adore books, they can only teach me so much, and most of the information contained within is not first hand. It's much more accurate to watch history unfold myself, and, I must admit, a great deal more entertaining.))

Jack nodded in agreement and took another sip of his cocoa.

Another hour passed. By the time Jack had finished his drink he had grown bored even of watching the images in the time machine's mirrors. In fact, he found himself not caring to do much of anything at all, except sit cross-legged on the floor and listen to the insects' prattle.

A similar lethargy seemed to fall over the other Guardians. From Sandy it was almost expected, and not altogether a problem as the little dream weaver could work even in his sleep. From the others, it was a bit funny. Already North was snoring loudly enough that he almost entirely blocked out the never ending drivel of the insects. Toothiana leaned against him, using his large belly as a pillow. Only Bunnymund remained semi-conscious, though his half-painted egg lay abandoned on the floor and his head was constantly bobbing, jolting upright every few minutes as he struggled to stay awake.

'I should wake them up,' Jack thought, yet he made no move to do so. He had told himself several times already that he would, yet he simply found himself unable to muster up the motivation to move from the spot.

((I want some more,)) Baby Tooth whined for the umpteenth time.

"Mm-hmm," Jack replied, not really listening.

((It was really tasty.))

"Yeah."

((I bet the bugs would like some too.))

"Probably."

((Where do you think they are?))

Jack blinked. He sat up a little straighter, clutching his staff tighter in his grip as he did. Glancing around the room, he once again took in the sight of the sleeping and half-sleeping Guardians. This time, the sight set off warning bells.

"Where are the insects?" he murmured aloud.

From the Tome of the Guardians he had expected the lunar moths and glowworms and spiders to be prominent within Big Root. Only now did it seem strange to him that while he had heard their voices whispering and hissing at him from the walls, he hadn't seen even one.

"Where is Ombric?"

Baby Tooth blinked at him sluggishly, as though he were speaking gibberish. This was wrong; her mind and his both felt sluggish. Panic worked its way sluggishly from Baby Tooth's emotions into his, yet she remained completely lax...

The warning bells ringing in Jack's head suddenly turned into a siren. Clumsily he reached for Baby Tooth who hardly reacted when he plucked her up from her seat on the floor next to him, though Jack was sure he was holding her a bit too tightly, and whose head lolled as he tried to place her in his hood as gently as possible with his fingers feeling like lead.

"Bunny? Hey, Bunny?"

The Pooka didn't react. Jack stood, a bit too quickly if the way the room seemed to spin was any indication, and made his way unsteadily towards the only other conscious Guardian.

"Hey, Cottontail, get up. I think something's wrong..." Jack trailed off as he neared the Guardian of Hope.

Bunnymund's eyes were open, but they seemed wrong. Distant. His head was bowed, no longer bobbing and his ears and nose were still. Tentatively, Jack reached out to shake his friend's shoulder. The moment he had touched the Pooka, however, Bunnymund slumped over, hitting the ground with a dull thump and staying there, dead asleep.

"Whaaat's goin' on?" Jack mumbled. His tongue felt like it had been carved of wood and his lips like they were made of stone. "Bayee Toof?"

He received no response from the frost fairy nestled in his hood.

The drone of the invisible insects increased in volume, thousands of tiny voices screeching at him in hundreds of languages – moth, worm, beetle, ant, spider, gnat... Jack held his head, trying to stop the room from spinning.

((BadbadverybadwhispermumbleshoutrunhidefleeescapewhisperwhisperhissBlackherehissmumblewhisper!))

"Jack?"

A single voice cut through the din, old and familiar. Jack blinked a bit stupidly, trying to focus and realizing only when he felt a spindly hand on his shoulder that he was still staring at the unconscious form of Bunnymund.

"Jack, is everything well?"

"Nnnnnnhhnn..." Jack's reply trailed off into a slurred whine. Ombric wrapped his other hand around Jack's shoulders, assisting the young immortal in turning to face him as Jack found his limbs refusing to work as they should.

"Oh, you poor boy," Ombric purred, and there was some thing wrong and familiar about his voice but whatever it was stayed just firmly out of reach. Jack allowed himself to be lead from Bunnymund's side, even as his instincts were screaming at him to react, that there was something wrong with this whole thing, that there was something familiar about the spider-like hand resting on his back...

"Here, you look absolutely exhausted," Ombric was saying, though his voice sounded hollow. "Why don't you sit down and rest a bit?"

Jack nodded in spite of the wrongness because sitting seemed like a very good thing and standing made his head hurt...

((RunbadgetoutbadshushwhispermurmermumbleBlackPitchBlackPitchBlackPitchBlack...))

"Zzzzuggz?"

Ombric ignored Jack's incoherently slurred inquiry and continued to lead him to the... something. Jack blinked. Was that a giant teapot? When had that gotten there?

Dimly Jack was aware of something tugging at his staff. Even in his lethargic state Jack tensed, fingers digging into the frost-rimmed wood out of habit. A faint sigh tickled his ear and the tugging stopped, though Jack's grip remained fast. Suddenly Jack heard a mechanical hiss and an intense white light blossomed in the near-darkness. He snapped his eyelids shut, tears streaming from their corners as Ombric continued to lead him forwards.

((PitchBlackPitchBlackPitchBlackPitchBlackPitchBlackPitchBlack...))

Jack heard the insects' cry now, clear as day, but the words simply didn't register. They were meaningless. Cautiously he peeked his eyes open, snapping them shut almost instantly as he realized that the intense white light was now surrounding him on all sides. Somewhere through the haze of his mind Jack was aware of someone talking to him, the voice confident, pleased. Smug.

Be alone, Jack could just make out through the haze.

Then the white disappeared and he was falling.

Chapter Text

The wind whistled in Hiccup's ears and adrenaline coursed through his veins as he plummeted seaward. Far above him he was aware of the awestruck gazes of his friends as he neared the choppy, foam-lined surface of the ocean. They were growing nervous, he knew, particularly Fishlegs and Snotlout. Hiccup smiled up at them and then maneuvered himself so that he was falling stomach first as an inky back shadow appeared seemingly from nowhere. The shadow ripped through the air, kicking up sprays of saltwater as it flew alongside and underneath the falling viking. Reacting with well practiced ease Hiccup grabbed a hold of the leather saddle strapped to the shadow's back and threw himself into the seat.

"Nice catch, bud," Hiccup shouted over the rushing wind, patting the broad, snakelike head of his dragon. "A little close."

Toothless huffed in response, no doubt disappointed by Hiccup's lack of response. Despite the bond the two shared – or, perhaps, because of it – Toothless enjoyed teasing Hiccup from time to time, cutting in close when they engaged in these free falling stunts or adding an unplanned spin or whirl to their aerial acrobatics. Of course, none of this ever seemed to phase Hiccup, who was equally at home in the air or on the ground. It was a shame, Toothless found himself thinking on occasion, that the runt had not been born a dragon.

Hiccup's spring-loaded prosthetic foot clicked into place in the left side stirrup and Toothess's false tail fin flared open. His great, bat-like wings caught an upwards draft and the pair rocketed into the sky, rejoining the teenagers soaring through the air miles above sea level.

"Now it's your turn," Hiccup shouted to the nearest dragon-rider, a tall boy with large, round cheeks, round hands and fingers, a round belly, and a round shape overall. "Jump."

"I don't want to jump!" Fishlegs wailed, looking utterly appalled that Hiccup would even suggest such a thing. He clung firmly to the saddle of his bulbous, bee-like dragon, wishing for nothing more than to be safely on the ground rather than soaring through the air alongside a group of crazy, daredevil vikings. He liked to think that Meatlug shared his sentiment, though the gronkle’s tongue lolled out of her mouth in excitement as she carried her rider through the air.

"You have to believe she's going to catch you!" Hiccup insisted. "It's a trust exercise!"

"I like to do my trusting on the ground thank you very much!" Fishlegs replied petulantly.

A scornful laugh came from the burly teenager riding alongside them atop the aptly named monstrous nightmare. Fishlegs sent Snotlout a withering glare, though it lacked the intimidating effect he intended, making his already large cheeks puff up more and his small eyes disappear beneath fuzzy blonde brows.

"Like this Chicken-legs!" Snotlout boasted before letting go completely of his dragon's crooked horns and pumped his arms in the air. Snotlout whooped excitedly as he slipped from his saddle. The rust-colored continued to glide on, oblivious to the missing weight on his neck.

The remaining five riders stared at the dragon.

"So, should we mention something to Hookfang?" The question was posed by a lanky boy with pale blond hair that hung in greasy clumps down to his waist. The mottled green head of his dragon leaned to the side as he spoke so that he could whisper into his sister’s ear.

"Let me sleep on it," his sister replied from her perch atop the other mottled green head of her dragon; their dragon, really. Tuffnut and Ruffnut exchanged snickers from atop their twin-headed zippleback, Barf-and-Belch.

At the top of the formation a young girl with golden hair wound into a thick braid rode atop a spiny blue dragon, its body like a large bird and its head crested with thorns. The girl steered her dragon lower, within shouting distance of the dismounted nightmare.

"Hookfang!" Astrid shouted, "Go get 'im!"

Hookfang stared at her blankly, the words not quite registering, but then Hiccup's dragon Toothless opened his muzzle and roared and the monstrous nightmare's eyes flew wide open. He craned his neck down, panic seizing his chest as he took in the sight of Snotlout spinning through the air towards not the churning sea but a particularly craggy part of the island they called home, mouth open in a scream that could barely be heard over the roaring winds.

With a frightened cry Hookfang shot downward, snake-like tail whipping through the air as he rocketed towards the stupid boy who had jumped from his saddle. Within seconds he was scooping Snotlout out of the air with his muzzle, but as he opened his wings to pull them both back up he found, to his dismay, that he had gone to far too fast, and even with the air filling the membrane between his fingers Hookfang was plummeting downwards, towards the weed-choked roof of the hut nestled tightly against the spire of rock Snotlout had come so close to smashing into.

"Whoa! Coming in too hot!" Snotlout shrieked, earning a snort from Hookfang. As if he didn’t notice!

Hookfang craned his head up so that he and not his human would take the brunt of the fall, and as the pair crashed through the shingled roof Snotlout was more or less protected from the worst of it.

For a moment the pair lay there on the cold, stone flooring inside the hut, dazed but relatively unhurt. A single piece of shingling hung from the gaping hole their entrance created, but only for a moment before it fell loose and struck Snotlout's helmet. With a pained groan the dark-haired youth pushed himself upright, blearily taking in his surroundings and going pale as they came into focus.

Axes, swords, clubs and maces hung from the walls, some of them still flecked with blood from an age gone by. Snotlout remembered, not fondly, the days when he would practice with similar weapons in a caged arena, learning to fight and kill dragons. Unconsciously his hands tightened around Hookfang's horns. Had things gone differently, his best friend's head would have been some excited young viking's first trophy; maybe even his own.

Suddenly Snotlout felt a prickling sensation on the back of his head. Slowly he craned his head around, seeing first the bent, twisted legs attached to scraggly knees, a stringy grey mustache, and then, as he looked up, their beady, rat-like eyes narrowed into a scowl under wispy grey eyebrows.

"Mildew!"

The next sound to leave Snotlout's throat was a scream. Hookfang, brought to alertness by his rider's distress, leaped to the air and shot skyward through the monstrous nightmare-sized hole they had created in the hermit's roof. Below Mildew was shaking his fist and screaming as old men were wont to do when teenagers, intentionally or not, trespassed on their property.

"You'll pay for this!" Mildew screeched as Snotlout and Hookfang made their escape. Only when he was safely in the air, riding alongside his friends, did Snotlout realize how fiercely his heart was hammering in his chest.

The other five dragon-riders grimaced at the damage he had caused, steering their dragons as far away from Mildew's hut as quickly as they could.

"Oooooh, something tells me we're going to hear about this," Hiccup groaned.

An hour later found the six riders on the far northern side of the island, well away from the village and Mildew or their parents or, worst of all, their chief.

Hiccup shuddered. He really was not looking forward to getting a talking to from the chief.

"Don't you think hiding will just make it worse?" Astrid asked aloud. She sat next to Hiccup, the pair leaning against a fallen tree trunk as they watched Toothless and Stormfly chase one another around near the cliff edge playfully. Nearby Snotlout was play-wrestling with Hookfang, and Fishlegs was using a stick to clean out Meatlug's ears.

"It's going to be bad no matter what we do," Hiccup rationalized. "I want to enjoy a few hours of freedom, at least, before my dad ties me to a mast and ships me off."

Astrid rolled her eyes and placed her hand on the back of his neck. It was a habit she had only recently found herself picking up, playing with Hiccup's hair. Sometimes she wished it was a bit longer so she could braid it.

"Well, maybe we'll get lucky and he'll only punish Snotlout," Astrid pointed out. The twins – both of whom had grown bored with trying to shove the other face first in the mud and were now just lounging atop Barf-and-Belch's necks – looked up at the suggestion, eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Hey, yeaaaaaah!" Tuffnut was unable to keep the smirk off of his face even if he wanted to. "It was all Snotlout's fault, right? Why do we need to hide?"

"Right!" Ruffnut chimed in with the same wicked expression plastered to her face as her brother, "We should just tie 'im up and leave him on Mildew's porch. That'll make everyone happy!"

The suggestion caught Hookfang's attention. He raised his muzzle from Snotlout's belly and fixed the twins with a stern glare, rings of smoke rising from his nostrils. Snotlout rolled over on his stomach and fixed the twins with a glare of his own, though it was far less potent than his dragon's.

"Hey, it was Hiccup's stupid training exercise! Why don't we tie Hiccup up?"

Hiccup groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose as Astrid jumped to her feet, putting her hands on her hips and scowling at the others.

"We're not tying anyone up!" she snapped. The three troublemakers fell silent, pouting like petulant children being scolded.

"...How did that happen anyway?" Ruffnut asked after a short pause. "I mean, like, how did Hookfang not notice, you know?"

"I don't know! Ask him!" Snotlout growled. Hookfang snorted and tucked his head under his wing, bored of the angry human children and their silly squawking.

Astrid rolled her eyes, but sat back down, returning to the more enjoyable task of keeping an eye on her dragon. A soft scritch-scratch in her ear told her that Hiccup had removed his journal from its resting place inside his sheepskin vest and was drawing again. She shot a peek at the pages out of the corner of her eye and smiled a bit when she saw the beginnings of a sketch of the deadly nadder and nightfury in play.

Turning her attention back to the dragons, Astrid prepared to follow Hiccup’s example and enjoy her last few hours of freedom before her parents came down on her for the training accident.

Then a deafening sound like the clap of thunder split the air. The riders and the dragons all hopped to attention, Hiccup’s arm jerking and sending a line through the sketch of Toothless’s face while the real thing bared his fangs to growl at the sky. There wasn’t a stormcloud in sight, sun shining bright between puffs of white. The woods had gone eerily silent. Except for the low, warning growls of their dragons not a sound could be heard, not even a single insect or bird call.

“That wasn’t thunder,” Astrid said. She was already on her feet, hand on the hilt of her axe though she hadn’t drawn it. Turning to Hiccup, she asked, “Could it have been a thunderdrum?”

"I'm not sure. It could have been, but they usually prefer the open wa-"

The words died in his throat as he turned his eyes back out towards the ocean, cold horror stealing his voice. A shape was falling from the clouds; a single, prone, humanoid figure. And they were falling to their death.

"Toothless!"

The nightfury needed no instruction beyond the initial call to action; Hiccup swung himself into the saddle and the moment his false leg clicked into place the dragon threw himself from the edge of the cliff, beating his powerful wings against the cool air currents as he propelled himself and his rider towards the unconscious figure.

The wind whistling through Hiccup's hair and over Toothless's ebony scales didn’t obscure the roars of the other dragons, nor his friends' calls nor the sound of four pairs of wings slicing through the air. Toothless and Hiccup were the fastest in the sky by far, however, and had a great head start; the others had no chance of reaching the falling person before Hiccup himself did.

"C'mon Toothless, almost there bud." Sweat beaded up and was instantaneously whipped off of Hiccup's forehead even as he uttered these words of encouragement. They were close enough now that Hiccup could just... barely...

The leather harness gave a sharp jolt as Hiccup half-flew off of the saddle, real leg dangling uselessly while his artificial one remained locked in place. Swinging himself as far as the harness would allow him to go, Hiccup snatched a fistful of the stranger's foreign garb. Then he tightened his grip and wrenched himself and the falling boy fully onto the saddle. Toothless's wings snapped open, catching an upward draft and propelling them away from the churning sea. The pair swerved around and flew back towards the plateau with the strange boy cradled gently against Hiccup's chest.

Moments ticked by, the silence gnawing away at everyone's already frayed nerves. Even the rambunctious twins were silent as the stared at the corpse-pale figure laid out on the grass.

With the moment of danger passed, Hiccup was finally able to take a good look at the boy. He appeared to be taller than Hiccup, though not by much, and he was just as thin. His skin was soft and fair with no scars or markings or excess hair of any kind. White hair shone under the now setting sun, reminding Hiccup of new fallen snow, and a thin sheen of frost clung to his soft blue tunic as well as to the gnarled shepherd's crook clutched tightly in too-cold fingers. He wore no shoes nor any kind of armor. The boy looked far too peaceful, Hiccup thought. Silvery lashes rested against fair cheeks, slightly chapped lips were just barely parted. No breath escaped those lips, and no color graced his slender face.

Every so often the others would exchange nervous glances; only Hiccup's eyes remained solely on the boy, guilt pooling in the bottom of his gut.

"Hiccup," Astrid broke the silence, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. He was probably already dead when he…" She trailed off with a sigh, giving him a gentle squeeze.

Toothless cooed, butting his head gently against Hiccup's as though to reiterate Astrid's words. A similar melancholy seemed to have fallen over all of the dragons; save for Toothless, each of them hung back from the white figure, though their eyes remained solemnly locked on him.

"So... what now?" Tuffnut asked morosely.

"Are we just gonna leave him here?" his sister followed up.

It was as if a dam had broken; now that the silence had been ended each of them found they had something to say.

"We should probably take him back to the village," Fishlegs suggested. "Someone could be looking for him. At the very least, we could give him a funeral."

"Wait, are you sure you should be doing that?" Snotlout protested, earning disdainful looks from all but one of the dragon riders. "We don't know who- Forget that, we don't know what he is!"

Fishlegs's eyes went wide, darting nervously between Snotlout and the stranger in the grass.

"Wha-wh-what do you mean by that?"

"Uh, hello?" Snotlout fixed him with a derisive look. "Look at his clothes. Look at his hair! And that's not even mentioning the fact that he just fell out of the sky from Thor knows where! For all we know, he could be a… a troll, or a jötunn or-!"

"A jötunn? Really?" Ruffnut scoffed. Her brother smirked and added, "Kinda puny for a jötunn, ain't he?"

"Or something!" Snotlout finished, voice rising an octave. "And if he's got friends and they think we did that..."

Astrid's glare only grew sharper, though a trickle of fear wormed its way onto the other three teenagers' features.

"You don't..." Fishlegs began, unable to keep the tremor from his voice or from his hands. "You don't really think he's a troll, do you?"

Rolling her eyes, Astrid stalked forward, bringing her face close to Snotlout's. To his credit, he did manage to hold his ground, even if he was now rolling his bottom lip between his teeth like a child expecting a tongue lashing.

"Snotlout, calm down," the viking girl growled in a tone that would have a skrill hiding beneath the folds of its wings. "His hair's white. It's not like he has fangs."

"How do you know, did you check?" Snotlout demanded.

"And if he does," Tuffnut cut in, "can we keep him?"

Without breaking eye contact with Snotlout, Astrid slapped her hand across Tuffnut's face and shoved him hard enough to send him stumbling backwards to the ground.

"He's not a monster," she continued. "He's just-"

"Alive."

"Yeah, what Hiccup- Wait, what?"

Dragon riders and dragons alike turned towards Hiccup. He sat, as he had been since dismounting Toothless, on his knees at the pale boy's side, but the forlorn expression on his face was gone. Instead his green eyes were side with both shock and relief and a goofy grin had been slapped onto his lips. Toothless's head fins perked up as his rider slid his hand under the boy's back and gently guided him to sit upright. The boy's eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks and he began to take several slow, shuddering breaths.

"By the gods..." Astrid's voice barely came out as a whisper, but everyone heard her as clearly as though she’d shouted to the heavens. Once again silence fell over their little group, though this time the air buzzed with anticipation.

Slowly the boy's eyelids parted to reveal the brightest blue eyes Hiccup had ever seen staring sightlessly up at him. Slender fingers twitched over the frosted wood of the staff in their grasp before tightening their hold. When the boy finally moved he did so sluggishly, raising his head to meet Hiccup's gaze and moving his lips to form a wordless inquiry.

"Hey," Hiccup half-said, half-laughed. "Hey, you're all right. Sort of."

The boy's eyes flew open wide. Hiccup gasped as he found himself being shoved backwards. He and the boy flew away from each other, Hiccup hitting the ground hard and the boy scrambling to his feet, staff held in front of him defensively. Toothless hissed, stepping protectively over his rider.

"Toothless, it's alright!" Hiccup grabbed ahold of Toothless's harness to pull himself up, placing a gentle hand on the dragon's muzzle. Toothless calmed, slightly, though his pupils remained narrowed to thin slits and he kept his teeth withdrawn from his gums. "We just startled him."

Behind Hiccup the other teens stared slack-jawed at the stranger's revival. Hiccup supposed there was no reason he should have been surprised when the whispering started. He was only surprised that it was Fishlegs who started it.

"I thought you said he was dead," the blonde whispered, hand cupped around his mouth as he leaned towards Astrid.

"I thought he was," Astrid hissed back. "He was cold. He wasn't breathing."

"So does that mean he's a troll after all?" Ruffnut whispered, exchanging excited glances with her brother. "Can we keep him?"

"I told you that guy wasn't normal." Snotlout did not so much hiss as growl. "We gotta get the heck outta here before he eats us or something!"

Fed up, Hiccup glared at them over his shoulder.

"You all realize we can hear you, right?"

Astrid at least had the decency to look sheepish. Snotlout on the other hand had gone white as an egg. He sputtered and stammered, right up until Astrid turned and placed a hand on his chest.

"Everyone, back up," Astrid said, turning to the other riders and ushering them back. "Let's give him some space."

"But, wait, I wanna check him for fangs!" Tuffnut said as he tried to step around Astrid's outstretched arm. His sister attempted to duck under the other. Astrid seized both twins by the back of their leather vests and dragged them off, a simple glare the only thing necessary to similarly subdue Snotlout. Fishlegs needed no coercion. He followed Astrid to where she lead the others at the edge of the treeline. From there Astrid met Hiccup's eyes and gave him a reassuring nod.

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief. He made a mental note to thank Astrid later. Turning his attention back to the foreigner, he found himself met with a bewildered look. Not Toothless or the dragons; him.

"Hey, it's okay," Hiccup tried reassuring the boy. "We're not going to hurt you. We found you, uh… Well, we saw you falling from the sky and caught you. Do you remember what happened?"

The boy continued to stare blankly, fingers wrapped tight around that staff of his like it was a lifeline.

"Oh boy, please don't tell me you don't understand me." Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair, wracking his mind for any way to get through to the foreigner. “Um, parles-tu Français?”

There was another prolonged pause in which Hiccup feared he still wasn’t understood. Then...

“...Y-yeah, I understand it.”

"Oh!" Hiccup turned to Toothless, nervous smile tugging at his lips. "Oh he does speak Norse!"

The boy's brows furrowed, eyes traveling from Hiccup's face to the nightfury at his side, then darting across the faces of the other dragon riders standing at the edge of the clearing. One hand uncurled from the staff and he reached over his shoulder to fiddle with his hood. Though still wary, Toothless edged nearer, pupils rounding out slightly as he sniffed at the stranger. Hiccup tightened his grip on Toothless's saddle.

"Uh, this is Toothless, don't worry he's… friendly."

The assurance came out automatically but even as his lips moved Hiccup wasn't sure it was necessary. The boy glanced at Toothless, lips quirking upwards in a faint smile, before turning his worried eyes back to Hiccup. Like he was the oddity, and not the tame dragon.

"What… is this place?" the boy asked at last. He cocked his head to the side. "Who are you people?"

"Uh, we're the Hooligan Tribe."

"Tribe?"

"Of Berk."

The boy raised a brow, fixing Hiccup with a hard stare. His eyes drifted to the rest of the teens, in their leather and fur clothes adorned with metal spikes and horned helmets.

"You're vikings." It didn't quite come out like a question, but Hiccup nodded anyway. The boy wasn't paying attention to him anymore. Raising a thoughtful hand to his mouth, he murmured, "So they're viking dragon riders… Is that why they can see me?"

"Uh… What?"

Shifting his focus back to Hiccup, the boy offered a smile.

"Don't worry about it."

Hiccup caught Snotlout whispering something under his breath – something unkind, judging by his tone – followed shortly after by a pained 'oof' courtesy of Astrid's elbow in his gut.

"Well, why don't we get you back to the village? We can have our healer take a look at you and get you some warm clothes."

The boy's foreign garb appeared altogether too light for a Berkian winter. Worse was the lack of footwear. Even with devastating winter over, Hiccup could feel the cold seeping into his toes through his fur lined boots.

"To your village?" Something shone in the boy's eyes. He opened his mouth, and closed it again, gaze drifting somewhere far away for the briefest of moments. A wistful smile tugged at his lips as he shook his head. "No… Thanks, but I should be looking for a way home."

"But-"

Hiccup started as the boy turned and began to walk towards the cliff and, unthinking, he reached for his arm.

“Wait-”

The boy jumped. He ripped his arm free, whirling towards Hiccup with an expression of open panic. Hiccup snatched his hand back, throwing both hands up disarmingly while Toothless hopped backwards with wide eyes, wings flared, and ear fins standing straight up. The boy slowly lowered his eyes, shifting his staff to lean against his shoulder so he could use his free hand to gingerly trace the spot where Hiccup's fingers had met his skin.

"I'm sorry!" Hiccup said, pulse racing. "Did I hurt you?"

He hadn't noticed any injuries but now Hiccup wondered if they were hidden under that strange cloth. The boy hadn't seemed like he was in pain up until that moment.

"I'm fine…" The boy seemed transfixed by his wrist. "You... are a normal human, right?"

"...I have no idea how to respond to that."

Toothless cocked his head to the side as if mirroring Hiccup's sentiment.

"Never mind." The boy smiled and shifted his staff back to his hand. And without a moment's hesitation he reached forward to pet Toothless. Hiccup's eyebrows jumped halfway up his forehead as the dragon's fins twitched first in surprise and then he relaxed into the touch. "Thanks for catching me. I'd say 'see you later,' but we probably won't see each other again."

And with those words, the boy stepped backwards over the edge of the cliff. Hiccup's heart leaped into his throat. Startled cries sounded from behind him. He threw himself forward, hands reaching out to snag the boy by the front of his strange tunic, only to close around air. Mischievous laughter rang out, Hiccup's eyes growing wide as shields while all thoughts flew from his head. He hardly noticed he was falling forwards until he felt the tug on the back of his vest, Toothless snagging the coarse material between his teeth.

The boy floated in the air, clothing and hair fluttering in the wind that held him aloft.

"Great Odin's ghost…" someone, Hiccup wasn't sure who, breathed. Maybe it was him.

The boy smirked and then blew an icy breeze directly at Hiccup. He flinched as white powder clung to his hair and to his eyelashes and the cold stung his cheeks. Hiccup’s mouth flapped open and shut as he tried and failed to formulate a response. He never got the chance. Toothless jerked him back from the edge of the cliff, earning another bout of laughter from the boy as he struggled to regain his balance.

"That's a good look for you. You kids take care of yourselves now!"

And with that he was gone, disappearing in a gust of wind. Toothless sputtered and swiped at his tongue with his paw, trying to remove a wool fiber that clung, but Hiccup's eyes remained locked on the spot in the clouds where the vættr had vanished.

Behind him, Hiccup heard the sound of a body hitting the ground. When he turned around he found Fishlegs had fainted.

Jack broke through the cloud layer in a desperate search for whatever hole the time machine had dumped him through, dewdrops freezing to his clothing and hair. When the orange and pinks of the late afternoon began to fade into violet and blue he turned around and flew back towards the island, just in case he’d missed it.

He found nothing. Even after circling the same area several times he found no trace of any portal that would return him to Big Root. He worried for his friends, drugged and vulnerable in the presence of Pitch Black, for Baby Tooth, who had yet to awaken from her drug-induced sleep in his hood, and for himself. What if, his panicked mind told him, he never found a way back?

Shrugging off such pessimistic thoughts, Jack rode the wind back to land. As he descended back below the cloud layer Jack found that in his frenzied searching he’d made it all the way around to the other side of the island; instead of facing the edge of the pine forest that reached all the way to the edge of the island's rocky cliffs, he was staring at a seafaring village built along the gentlest slopes the island had to offer. A labyrinth of winding catwalks were built alongside the cliff face leading down into a sprawling port populated by long, wooden rowboats.

The lights of the village were dim, save a few watchtowers. When the clouds broke, the light of the full moon offered Jack a perfect view of the village square from where he landed at the top of the port. He sat, swinging his foot over the edge of the catwalk, and basked in the cool night air. In actuality it probably wasn’t that late; this far north in the dead of winter, nightfall would have come early. High above Tsar Lunar had ascended into the sky.

With a sigh, he wrapped his fingers around his wrist. He could still feel that boy’s touch, the heat of those calloused fingers against his chilled skin and the way they set his nerves alight. In any other circumstance, he would have been elated. Just remembering it had his pulse racing. Countless 'why's and 'how's circled his head but ultimately all that mattered was the fact that those kids could see him.

A few years earlier, and he might have literally wept. He'd have taken that kid up on his offer in a heartbeat.

Now, he had people to return to.

Not that he knew how to do that.

Just as Jack was contemplating flying off again, he felt a slight shift in his hood. A moment later that weight settled on his shoulder and Baby Tooth blinked blearily at him.

((What happened Love?))

A hot lump formed in Jack's throat as he recalled everything that had happened. In spite of the drug-induced daze, he found himself able to recall every detail.

"Pitch," he replied, venom dripping from his voice. "He pretended to be Father Time and drugged us. Then he stuck me in the time machine."

No, that wasn’t entirely true. Thanks to whatever drug Pitch had put in the cocoa he hadn’t needed to stick Jack anywhere. Humiliation burned Jack's face as he remembered how he’d compliantly walked into Pitch's trap. Again.

Bunnymund was going to kill him when he got back. If he got back. Again, Jack sighed.

((Do you know when we are?)) Baby Tooth tried. Jack shook his head.

"Viking era, so around a thousand years in the past," he said. "Give or take a couple centuries.”

Baby Tooth's hands dug into the fabric of Jack's hoodie as the news sank in. The Guardians had yet to be formed, and if Jack's estimate was correct they wouldn't be for another four hundred years or so. North hadn't even been born yet. The Sandman would be in his post crash-landing sleep. That left three Guardians. Two of whom might have a solution.

“Bunny’s pretty much been around as long as the Earth has, right?” he asked, turning to his companion. “Shouldn’t young Bunny have shown up by now to bop us back to the present?”

((He might only do that if we try to change major events,)) she suggested. ((Or maybe that time machine locked us into this time period. Or… Or… I don’t know.))

Jack cupped a hand over her consolingly and stroked her silver feather.

"Okay, so that leaves… Ombric?"

Baby Tooth shook her head.

((Ombric Shalazar won't create Santoff Claussen until the end of the thirteenth century. I don't know where he was before that, but Atlantis already fell thousands of years ago.))

Jack sucked in a slow breath, letting those words sink in. If Santoff Claussen didn't exist yet, that meant no time machine. And they didn't have anyway to track the Pooka down during his millennia-long period of isolation, unless he chose to appear before them.

They were stuck.

Thick, wet clumps of snow began to fall. Lost in his pessimistic thoughts, Jack failed to notice the presence settling down on the pier next to him until it spoke.

((Swimming-foods-have?))

Jack's head snapped up at the voice, and he found himself staring at a blue-scaled creature the size of a rabbit with small, smooth brown horns on its head and large, bulbous yellow eyes. The tiny dragon cocked its head to the side, sitting on its hind legs with its forelegs tucked to its chest like a puppy begging for scraps.

"No, sorry," Jack said, unperturbed by the strange little creature. "I don't have any food with me."

The little dragon leaned forward, settling on all fours, and took a series of cautious steps towards Jack. The winter spirit remained still for fear of startling the little dragon off.

((Scaleless-you-sad-sad-cold-you-lost-stop-sad-feel-warm.))

Like the Sandman, the dragon's words didn't resemble a spoken language as Jack formerly knew them, though they were far less alien to his mind than the Sandman's language of light. He could feel in the little chirps and whistles of the dragon its acute awareness of his emotions, and when the dragon-speak came to an end it climbed into his lap, curling its tiny body against his.

"That won't work," Jack told the dragon even as he began stroking its body. "I'm always cold."

The dragon remained where it was, not at all bothered by Jack's low body temperature. From his shoulder Baby Tooth glared at the dragon, translucent wings twitching in annoyance.

((Shoo! Go away! Bothersome creature!))

"Hey Baby Tooth, be nice!" Jack scolded. "He's just trying to help."

((Well it can go help somewhere else! Fire-breathing little menace...))

The dragon sat up, fixing Baby Tooth with a comical glare. Baby Tooth 'eeped' and retreated into Jack's hood while the dragon rose to its hind legs, resting its needle-thin claws against Jack's chest as it tried to snap at the frost fairy.

((Twittering-fwittering-thing-bad-go-go-be-gone!))

"Hey hey hey!" Jack scolded, scooping the dragon out of his lap with one hand and placing it on the wooden planks to his side. "Be nice, both of you! No eating the 'twittering-fwittering-thing!'"

((Hey!)) Baby Tooth cried indignantly, poking her head out of Jack's hood. The little dragon in response made a goff goff goff sound that might have been laughter.

Ignoring Baby Tooth's indignation, Jack held his staff out to the open air. The rims of ice sparkled under the moonlight and from the sapphire glow building from the staff itself, and in a flurry of small flakes Jack had created a school of transparent frost-fish which swam through the air as real ones did water. Instantly the little dragon forgot Baby Tooth and took to the air on fragile wings, swooping and swerving in circles as it tried unsuccessfully to capture the ghost fish in its teeth. Jack laughed at their game, oblivious to the pair of eyes that watched him from the village below.

Hiccup returned to his home that evening in a stupor. Neither he nor any of the other dragon riders had been able to make sense of their bizarre encounter earlier that afternoon, and had resolved not to speak of it to anyone outside of their group. Even so thoughts of the strange snow-haired vættr swirled around in Hiccup's head, so much so that when he slipped indoors to find his father glaring at him with all the intensity of an enraged monstrous nightmare, Hiccup found himself at a loss as to what he could have done to earn it.

At a loss, that is, until Stoick the Vast slammed a broken roof tile on the dining table as Hiccup sat down.

"Shingle again?" Hiccup joked, forcing a weak smile onto his face. "Didn't we have roofing material for dinner last night? Heh..."

Stoick did not look amused. His thick, fiery eyebrows narrowed and his mouth curled into a frown underneath the wild shock of red hair that was his beard. It didn’t help that Stoick towered over most of the full grown men in their village; Hiccup, small and thin as he was, nearly disappeared in his father's shadow.

"It was an accident, Dad!" Hiccup insisted as Toothless cooed pitifully. "I'm sure Mildew is making it sound worse than it is."

"A dragon and a huge obnoxious boy crashed through his roof! Twice!"

"Well, sure it sounds bad if you're gonna stick to the facts..." Sometimes Hiccup wished he knew when to shut up. His father's glare only grew icier and icier with each word out of his mouth.

"Of all the houses on the island, a dragon had to crash through Mildew's!" Stoick growled. "You know he hates dragons more than anyone else!"

"I know." Hiccup started playing with the broken shingle on the table. "You might want to talk to him about his attitude."

"Listen to me, Hiccup. I gave you the responsibility of training those dragons. Everyone knows that. All eyes are upon you son. Whatever those beasts do reflect on you, and whatever you do reflects on me!"

Hiccup nodded, standing up and shoving the shingle away from himself. "I'm sorry Dad, you're right."

"You and your friends are going to go back to Mildew's and fix that roof," Stoick ordered. Then, pointing at Toothless over his son's shoulder, he added, "Without your dragons!"

Hiccup smiled, placing his hands on the nightfury's head as Toothless purred. Already he’d assumed that responsibility for fixing the roof would fall on himself and the other riders. Really, this punishment wasn't so terrible.

"Got a break there, bud."

Toothless hummed in response.

"Ah! Not so fast!" Hiccup winced. His father had seated himself in the old yak-leather chair next to the fire pit. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Dread chilled Hiccup's spine as Stoick bent down and began to remove his footwear. As the viking chief removed his shoes a foul stench assaulted rider and dragon alike. Strangely enough, Stoick felt the need to hold the boots to his nose and take a quick whiff before holding them out to his son and proclaiming, "It's boot night! They need to be aired out."

Hiccup bit back the urge to gag, taking the boots in one hand and clapping the other over his nose and mouth. He held the foul-smelling footwear as far away from his face as possible, accidentally sticking it in front of Toothless's snout as he turned towards the door. The nightfury hissed and jolted back as though the boots had spontaneously transformed into a writhing mass of live eels.

"I think it's going to take more than air," Hiccup grumbled as he carried the boots out the front door. Toothless remained inside and away from the invisible cloud of stench as his rider stepped out into the frigid night air.

As cold as Berk was during the day, it was infinitely more so once the sun had set. A fierce shiver almost took the boots from Hiccup's hands even before he set them down on the porch step. As he stood Hiccup found a slight smirk forming on his face; his house had been built far up the hill on top of which the village stood – lower only than the Great Hall built into the side of the mountain – and the vantage point gave him a perfect view of his friends' homes as the other riders stepped out into the frigid air bearing the same punishment as Hiccup himself. Poor Fishlegs was tearing up from the smell and the twins were each shoving the boot they carried into the one another's face. Hiccup forced himself to stifle a laugh when he saw Snotlout quite literally swallow the urge to vomit before throwing the shoes out onto the porch.

Task complete, Hiccup turned to head inside only to stop when he felt something cold and wet land on the back of his neck. The scrawny viking jumped, hand flying to the cold spot as his eyes shot skyward. At first Hiccup felt only annoyed by the fat flakes of snow falling from the cloudless sky. Then it hit him; the flakes were falling from a cloudless sky.

"What the..."

Already the other riders had retreated indoors, leaving Hiccup alone outside in the cold and dark. Eyebrows pinched in confusion, Hiccup's eyes roved the village as he searched for an explanation for the impossible snowfall. At first he saw nothing save for the wet flakes clumping together and rapidly forming piles of snow over the rooftops and along the trail winding through the village.

Hiccup was about to give up and slip back inside when his eye caught a flash of movement. His home on the hill gave him a good view of more than just the rest of the village; from where he stood Hiccup could easily see the winding pier leading down the cliffs into the water, as well as the figure perched at the very top. In the darkness of night the waifish silhouette might have been easily missed, if not for the moonlight reflected off of their snow-white hair.

Baby Tooth laughed from her perch atop the little dragon as it pounced on its target a few feet away, only for the speck to flit out from underneath its outstrethced claws. It took a bit of coaxing, but Jack had persuaded his frost fairy to mount the cat-sized dragon and their game had taken a new turn. Using a crystal he formed of ice, Jack caught the light of the moon and reflected it onto the wooden surface of the pier, making it dart back and forth and sending the tiny dragon absolutely wild chasing it.

((Shiny-catch-shiny-fun-hunt-catch-fun-fun-fun.))

A silly grin tugged at the corners of Jack's lips as he tilted the mirror, causing the speck of reflected light to race along the wooden planks. The little dragon chased the speck like a particularly playful kitten, much to the amusement of both Jack and Baby Tooth. The frost fairy was used to Jack's wild antics in the sky, but for those she was normally tucked safely in the boy's hood or inside his pocket. Riding on dragon-back was an altogether unique experience.

As absorbed in the game as they were, they hardly noticed the light rapping of feet on the deck. When the little dragon suddenly gave up on the speck of light, however, and swiveled its head to face the newcomer Jack's laughter came to a stop. He turned, eyes wide, and let the wind lift him to his feet as he took in the sight of the green eyed dragon rider from earlier, crystal falling from his fingers into the churning sea far below.

Baby Tooth squeaked and flew from the tiny dragon's back, burying herself in Jack's hood. The boy's eyes were wide as he stared at Jack.

"You came back," the boy said, breathing hard after his long run, puffs of white escaping his lips. Jack found himself being fixed with a hard, scrutinizing stare, and resisted the urge to fidget. "I thought… I wasn't expecting to see you ever again."

"Well, that was the idea." Jack chuckled, hoping it didn't come across as nervous as he felt. "Funny running into you again. You following me or something?"

The boy seemed to snap out of his stupor, only to start stumbling over his own tongue. To Jack's wicked delight. A playful smirk tugged at his lips as the boy floundered.

"I was- I didn- You're in my village!" the boy managed at last. Jack laughed harder.

"Fair enough," he said. He held out a hand to the other. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. Jack Frost, nice to meet'cha."

"Uhm..." The viking stared at his hand blankly and only then did it occur to Jack that handshaking might not be the way to go with the vikings. With a shrug he retracted his hand, shoving it deep into his pocket.

"Soooooo... Your name is?"

"It's, uh, Hiccup. My name, it's… It's Hiccup."

The boy – Hiccup – scratched the back of his head nervously. Earlier Jack hadn’t really taken a good look at the other. Hiccup was just a bit shorter than him, with rounder features where Jack's were angular (elfin was the word Toothiana had used), and a smattering of dark freckles all across his face.

"Hiccup?" Jack repeated with an incredulous laugh. Even in the dim light he could see how the shorter boy's cheeks colored.

"Well, it's a viking tradition. It's not like I chose it," he replied defensively. Jack laughed again, raising one hand in surrender.

"Hey, it's not that bad. I think it’s unique. More creative than mine, anyway. White hair? Blue eyes? Call him frost!”

Half of the winter spirits must have used that name at one point or other.

"It’s not meant to be creative. Terrible names are supposed to frighten away gnomes and trolls," Hiccup explained. "And my cousin's name is Snotlout, so I guess it could be worse."

"Why would you want to frighten away trolls?" Jack asked, expression going from casually playful to genuinely confused. "I mean yeah, they're a little pushy, but they're nice folks. Terrific singers, I might add."

Hiccup's mouth flopped open and closed. At this rate he was beginning to look like a fish. For a moment Jack worried that he might’ve said something wrong, but then Hiccup's hand was in his face and now Jack was the one on the defensive.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" he snapped as he drew back from the Viking's outstretched fingers. Hiccup jerked his hand back, face coloring once again.

"Sorry, sorry! I just..." Hiccup trailed off. He was staring again, eyes wide in wonder. "I was staring to think I was dreaming. You're really not human, are you?"

Jack wasn't prepared for the stab of hurt that pierced his chest. His expression hardened, eyes now like crystal shards.

"Well," he said coolly, "thanks for ruining this for me."

He whirled on the spot, prepared to fly off once and for all, when he felt a sharp tug on his hood.

"Wait!"

FWEET!

"Ow!"

Jack spun back around as the grip on his hood vanished and Baby Tooth's furious trills filled his ears. He was met with the sight of Hiccup holding his hand while Baby Tooth hovered in the air between the two of them, gesturing wildly. Hiccup was staring at the frost fairy with the same dumb look he had fixed Jack with earlier, eyes wide and mouth fixed into an 'o' shape.

((Don't you touch my Love!)) Baby Tooth whistled indignantly, flying close enough to Hiccup's face that she very nearly jabbed him again with her beak. ((Nasty little boy! Why I ought to-))

Her tirade was cut short by Jack cupping a hand around her little body, gingerly depositing her on his shoulder.

"Relax, Baby Tooth. I'm a grown up spirit, I can handle myself."

"Wha- what is that?" Hiccup breathed, drawing Jack's icy glare back to him. Jack's answer came after some slight hesitation.

"This is Baby Tooth," he answered at last. "She's a frost fairy."

"She's beautiful."

Despite himself, Jack couldn't help the briefest smirk at Baby Tooth's shock. She grumbled, said something rather rude but Jack could feel that she wasn't able to quite summon up the same anger as before. She was still cross, just not quite so heated. And, though unwilling to admit it, the tiniest bit pleased.

"She says 'thank you,'" Jack lied, eliciting a squeak of protest from his companion. He moved to leave once more, and paused as Hiccup called out.

"Wait!" Jack turned, and Hiccup stammered out his words so fast he practically tripped over them. "L-look, I wasn't trying to insult you. You just- I mean, I was scared that this might all be a dream. I had to make sure you were real, but, uh, I shouldn't have done that."

Jack raised a brow.

"I'm sorry."

Silence passed between them as Jack studied Hiccup's expression. He was shivering, faintly, and the tips of his ears had gone red from the cold. For a moment Jack forgot to be annoyed as pity set in. There was nothing malicious in that expression, and with a sigh he relented.

"Fine, apology accepted." His lips quirked upwards. "For the record, pinching yourself usually works for most people."

"I'll, uh, keep that in mind," Hiccup said, cold-reddened cheeks burning brighter with embarrassment. "So… Why did you come back? I thought you were trying to find your way home?"

And like that, the beginnings of Jack's good humor died away. He held onto the smile, but it was an effort now.

"I was," he admitted, twirling his staff in one hand. "And then I realized I, ah… I don't actually know how to do that."

"You don't-" A note of horror crept into Hiccup's voice. "Is your home somewhere very far away?"

Jack opened his mouth to answer, and then he was the one left feeling like a fish as words failed him. How was he supposed to tell this kid he was from the future? For one, Bunny would probably beat him to not-death with his own staff if he did anything to mess up the timeline. For another, he didn't know if Hiccup would even believe him.

"Is your home in another realm?" Hiccup asked when the silence dragged on just a bit too long.

Well, that wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't entirely untrue either. Another time might as well be another realm for as easy as it was to go back and forth, right?

"Yeah," Jack replied with a nod. "I got into it with another spirit, and he sent me here through a portal."

"I'm sorry."

Jack didn't respond, staring out over the water as the snow flurried harder. The little terrible terror rubbed its scaly body against his legs, begging for attention, but his mind was elsewhere.

"If you want," Hiccup broke the silence yet again, "You're welcome to stay with me until you can find a way home."

Jack's eyes shot up, and now he stared at Hiccup as he'd been stared at earlier, though Hiccup hardly seemed to notice.

"You'd have to tone down the snow and ice," Hiccup continued as he caught the snow on his open palm and watched as they instantly melted away into droplets. Delicate white flakes clung to his hair and his lashes, some fluttering loose as he blinked. "I don't think my dad would take me bringing a winter god home well, but-"

"Whoa whoa, hold up there." Jack laughed uncomfortably, stepping back and throwing up a hand. "I'm no god. I'm just some minor weather spirit. And anyway, I'm more of an 'outdoor' person. Closed spaces aren't really my thing."

Hiccup frowned. Jack was hesitant to take that look as disappointment – they'd known each other for ten minutes, seven of which Jack spent laughing at Hiccup's bafflement, and another two spent glaring – but he wanted to make it go away nonetheless.

"But thanks for the offer," he continued with a sheepish grin. "I don't get many like it."

Baby Tooth tugged at Jack's hoodie, iridescent wings fluttering slightly.

((Jack,)) she chirped frantically, jabbing her little finger in the direction of the village. ((There's someone else down there!))

"Huh?"

As Jack peered down where Baby Tooth pointed Hiccup turned and followed his gaze. Through the thin veil of snow he could just barely make out the faint outline of a stick-thin figure wading through the snowdrifts. From their vantage point on the pier the two boys watched as the shadow came to a stop in front of a hut – Hiccup's hut! – knelt, and then made off with something, hardly noticeable at that distance, especially with the snow, though there was only one thing it could be.

"That guy just stole my dad's boots!" Hiccup cried. Without so much as a pause he took off running down the pier, intent on stopping the midnight-boot-thief in the act, never mind the fact that by the time he got there the shoe thief would be long gone.

"Hold on tight kid! I got you!"

That was all the warning Hiccup received before he was suddenly being hoisted into the air, feet still flailing below him as he was plucked from the catwalk mid-stride by the back of his vest. Hiccup yelped as Jack shot towards the village, the fairy and the little dragon trailing not far behind. Above him he heard the jovial laughter of the vættr as the wind whipped the two of them back and forth and though the flight was not unlike what he and Toothless engaged in regularly Hiccup just wanted it to end because he had no say in where they were going and no control over the speed or direction.

Before long Hiccup found himself falling, his shriek cut short by a face-full of fresh powder.

"Let's not do that again," Jack said as he landed next to the face planted viking, rolling his shoulders as though to ease an ache. "You're a lot heavier than you look."

Belatedly, Hiccup agreed through a mouthful of snow, not even acknowledging the fairy that was laughing at him.

Pulling himself up, Hiccup found that Jack had dropped him in the narrow space between two huts, hidden from view by the thick shadows that the moon's bright light cast over the village. Jack had already taken his position, pressing himself flat against the nearest building and leaning around the corner in order to get a clear look at what was happening. Following suit, Hiccup pressed himself against the rough wood of the building he knew to be his uncle Spitelout's hut and peered into the village square. His eyes narrowed at what he saw.

"Mildew!" the young viking hissed furiously. "That son of a-"

A cold hand clapped over Hiccup's mouth, hushing him. Silently Jack brought a single finger to his lips, indicating for Hiccup to be quiet. Only when Hiccup nodded did Jack remove his hand.

Protected by the veil of shadows, the two teenagers watched as Mildew skulked from house to house, a large burlap sack thrown over his shoulder. The sack was already bulging with dozens of pairs of shoes, and as the crotchety old man made his way down the path from Stoick's hut Hiccup realized that his footsteps were accompanied by an odd scratch-scritch sound.

"He's trying to frame the dragons," Hiccup whispered harshly, glaring at the old hermit and the faux dragon feet he was wearing from his hiding place in the shadows. Baby Tooth squeaked on Jack's shoulder and the terrible terror let out a barely audible hiss. "We have to stop him."

A devilish twinkle shone in Jack's eye.

"I agree. Ready to have a little fun?"

Before Hiccup could ask what he meant, Jack chucked a snowball – when had he made that? – right at Mildew's head. The snowball hit the hermit's helmet with a wet thwack, knocking the headpiece from his crown with a noisy clatter. Hiccup clapped his hands over his mouth to keep from bursting out laughing as Jack created another snowball – from a swirl of blue and white light in the palm of his hand! – and launched it into the air. The second struck Mildew square in the face as the old man turned in the direction of the first snowball, leaving him sputtering and cursing. The sack fell from his hands as he swiped at his eyes and in the few moments where he was completely blind Jack touched the tip of his staff to the ground. Instantly fern-like swirls of frost bloomed from the staff, crawling over the ground until they had appeared underneath Mildew's feet. The moment the old man opened his eyes he bent to retrieve the sack, only to loose his footing as he shifted his weight and go sprawling on the now icy ground.

"And now," Jack said through poorly-suppressed giggles, "the grand finale."

Creating a final, perfectly-shaped snowball, Jack arched his arm back, leaning his weight into it. Then he hurled the snowball with all of his might; it soared far over Mildew's head and struck its target with a thunderous CRACK!

Hiccup placed his knuckles between his teeth to stop the laughter threatening to erupt from his throat; that was his door that Jack had just struck. The ice spirit must have wrapped the snowball in a layer of ice for it to make that noise and, judging by the resulting clamor from within, the snowball had achieved its mission.

Neither of the teens saw the orange rectangle of light as it spilled out into the village square, but they – and very likely the rest of the village, and quite possibly the rest of the Archipelago – heard the thundering voice as it reverberated through the crisp air:

"WHAT IN THOR'S NAME IS GOING ON OUT HERE!?"

Instinctively Hiccup ducked back, though he knew his father wouldn’t have been able to see either of them in the shadows. The squeal of rusted hinges followed by the rapping of wood-on-wood indicated many more doors swinging open and a low hum rose from the village. A part of Hiccup, a very small part, felt a bit bad for Mildew and the humiliation he was about to endure, but a stronger part was smug that the old grump had been caught in the act, and an even stronger part was relieved that the dragons would be spared Mildew's malicious scheme.

A jolt raced up his spine as he felt a cold hand touched his shoulder and for a moment Hiccup feared discovery, but as he whirled around he found only Jack, who smirked at him mischievously and raised a finger to his lips. Gesturing towards the back of the building, Jack led him through the shadows, fairy and terror in tow. Thankfully the commotion in the square made sneaking away not so difficult. As the pair made their way up the slope towards Hiccup's hut they could hear the adults' voices rising, accusations swelling and cresting and drowning half-baked pleas of innocence.

Once the pair had made their way to the back of Hiccup's hut Jack held out his hand to Hiccup, jerking his head silently to the open window. Hiccup took Jack's hand, marveling at how soft it felt; his own hands were rough and scarred from long hours spent in the forge. No viking had soft hands. Even Astrid's fingers were calloused by long hours of axe throwing and swordsmanship training. Hiccup wondered if all vættr had soft skin like Jack's, or if it was perhaps exclusive to spirits of wind or weather?

Their ascent into the air was much more gentle this time, the wind hoisting Jack who in turn hoisted Hiccup smoothly and depositing the boys on the roof. Jack remained perched on the sill while Hiccup scrambled inside the warmth of his bedroom, landing on the pile of furs with a quiet 'oomph!'

The slight noise did draw attention, but not that of any of the angry vikings in the square. In the darkness of his room Hiccup saw a pair of disembodied, green eyes appear from nothing. Then a great black shape unfurled itself atop the stone slate that served as its bed and Toothless was bounding over to Hiccup, butting his head against his rider's chest and clicking at Hiccup like a scolding mother.

"Hey bud," Hiccup whispered as he threw his legs over the side of the bed and ran his fingers over Toothless's scales. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be out so late."

Toothless lapped at Hiccup's face with his broad, forked tongue. For a moment he forgot all about the spirit currently perched on his windowsill until he heard an airy voice whisper, "Hello again."

Broad head fins perked atop Toothless's head as he gave up greeting his rider in favor of examining the stranger leaning in their shared window. Nostrils flaring, the nightfury placed his front paws on the bed and leaned towards the vættr, bringing his muzzle close to Jack's face and giving a low, cautious rumble.

Baby Tooth tensed, tiny wings buzzing in anticipation, but Jack just chuckled and offered Toothless his hand.

"My name's Jack Frost," he told the dragon. "I'm a friend."

A smile tugged at the corner of Hiccup's lips as he watched his best friend press his muzzle into Jack's palm. The nightfury cooed favorably a the friendly touch, fins trembling slightly in pleasure.

"Okay Toothless." Hiccup ran his hand along the back of Toothless's neck and then gave a gentle pat. "Off the bed before you break it in half."

Toothless obeyed, sliding off of the flimsy cot to return to his own bed. Though he shot Hiccup a subtly annoyed look and as he turned his tail thwapped his rider lightly across the face, earning chuckles from the spirits sitting in the window. Circling the slate, Toothless poured a low flame from his mouth and then patted the embers down beneath his paws, curling up atop the warmth. Jack's eyes were drawn to his tail as he curled it around him, the single remaining fin flaring a bit before Toothless relaxed onto his heated bed.

"I've never seen a dragon like you before." Jack's voice was barely a whisper. Toothless set his head down on his front paws, though he kept his large, round eyes open, regarding the winter spirit a bit lazily. Jack rubbed his fingers together, as though remembering the feel of those smooth, glossy scales.

"Are there a lot of dragons in your realm?" Hiccup asked.

"Some, but not as many," Jack answered. "And none that look like your friend."

A world without dragons… Or, with hardly any, Hiccup silently corrected himself. It sounded like a land the people of Berk would have dreamed of just a year ago. Now the thought left Hiccup with a bitter ache in his chest.

"You can come in, if you want," Hiccup offered. "If you want to keep petting him; Toothless would love the attention."

Toothless gave a dry snort and closed his eyes. And then cracked one open, head fins alert.

"Don't mind him, he likes to pretend he's more mysterious and noble than he really is," Hiccup said. Toothless retorted with an irritated huff. "I've seen you get your head stuck in a fishing basket, bud. You're not fooling anyone."

Jack snorted while the dragon yowled indignantly at his rider. With Hiccup's permission, he slunk, cat-like, through his window. Jack was careful with his movements, avoiding stepping on his host by mistake with practiced ease and lowering himself onto the wooden platform that was Hiccup's bedroom without so much as a creak. Toothless remained still as Jack approached his slate, though he kept his eyes trained on the vættr, and when Jack settled on his knees on the edge of the stone he raised his head, ear fins perking up. Hiccup watched the interaction with rapt attention from where he sat on his bed.

"You're so cool," the spirit whispered, setting his staff aside so he could place both hands under Toothless's jaw, giving a light scratch. Hiccup smiled at Jack's childlike curiosity; he seemed to love everything about Toothless – his scales, his fins, his claws, his wings – and wanted to put his hands everywhere. And Toothless ate it up, purring contentedly and preening from all the attention and affection he was receiving.

Eventually Baby Tooth was taken by the same curiosity that held Jack. Her wings buzzed as she hovered just in front of the dragon's face. A smile tugged at the corners of Hiccup's lips as she began chirping at Toothless in her strange fairy-language and Toothless chirped back before offering the fairy a toothless smile. He started when Toothless's teeth suddenly shot out, fearful that his dragon might eat Jack's fairy. But Toothless made no move to do so, and rather than being frightened Baby Tooth seemed enraptured by the nightfury's retractable fangs, running her little hands over them and trilling excitedly.

"What happened here?"

And like that, Hiccup's good mood died. Jack had made his way round to Toothless's tail. Guilt punched Hiccup in the gut as he watched the spirit run his fingers over the space where Toothless's missing tail fluke should have been.

"Did Hiccup rescue you from whoever did this?" he asked, eyes on the dragon.

"Ah, no, not exactly…" Hiccup bit the inside of his cheek, raising his hands awkwardly. "I… kind of… shot him down… in the woods… Back when we were at war with the dragons."

Jack was on his feet in an instant, rounding on Hiccup with a look of horror.

"You what?!"

Baby Tooth twittered in horror, zipping to Jack's shoulder. Hiccup threw up his hands defensively.

"I-it's okay though! We made peace! No one hunts dragons on Berk anymore. And Toothless here got me back, isn't that right, bud?"

Toothless yawned, and then lapped at his nostril.

"Yeah, no one holds a grudge like a nightfury. You just had to settle the score, so now-" Hiccup bent over, undoing the leather straps that held his prosthetic in place and then raising it up as though it were a trophy. "-we match!"

Jack quirked a brow, corners of his lips turning upwards.

"Well," he said, eyes flicking between Hiccup and the nightfury, "if Toothless says so."

Toothless warbled as though to say, 'I do say so.' Hiccup's sigh of relief morphed into a yawn against his will. Funny how, despite the late hour, he'd almost forgotten to feel tired.

"Sounds like it's someone's bedtime," Jack said as he reached for his staff. "I think it's time for us to head out, Baby Tooth."

He'd also forgotten, if only for a moment, that Jack wasn't there by choice. A slight frown pulled at Hiccup's lips. However briefly he'd known the other boy – the vættr, he had to remind himself – he found he didn't want him to go. Never before had he had so much fun doing anything where Mildew was involved, and anyone who would so readily leap to the dragons' defense had to be a good person.

Still, Hiccup didn’t allow the sadness to show on his face. Instead he shrugged and said, "Yeah, I should probably get to sleep." He'd need it if he was going to be spending the morning fixing Mildew's roof. A thought occurred to him. "So, uh, where are you going to go?"

"No clue," Jack admitted a little too readily. His mouth was still set with a small smile. Hiccup wondered at this; were he in the same position he would’ve been panicking but Jack seemed relatively unaffected. "But Baby Tooth and I will figure something out. Your world is interesting. I bet it'd be fun to explore and maybe we'll figure out a way home while we're at it."

The 'maybe' was not lost on Hiccup.

"My offer still stands," he said. "I know you said you don't like closed spaces, but you're still welcome on Berk." He recalled how Jack's eyes shone when he offered to bring him to the village earlier. "And you've got two friends here already."

It was somewhat endearing, somewhat sad how wide Jack's eyes went, the sheer disbelief in his voice as he said, "Really?"

Hiccup nodded, and Toothless chirped in agreement.

"If you want, you could come to the Dragon Academy tomorrow," Hiccup offered. "I could introduce you to the other dragon riders."

Curious blue eyes regarded Hiccup for a moment. Jack exchanged looks with Baby Tooth, the silver and blue fairy squeaking something in her strange language while gesturing to Hiccup. A nervous sweat broke out on the viking's freckled brow and he feared that while Jack seemed to like him well enough, his fairy companion was far less trusting.

Toothless chirped. Baby Tooth chirped back, still eyeing Hiccup suspiciously. She twittered something into Jack’s ear and the corner of his mouth curled upwards in a smirk.

"Open your mouth."

Hiccup blinked. "What?"

"Open your mouth," Jack repeated. "Baby Tooth wants to see your teeth."

"Uhhh..." Hiccup threw a glance at Toothless who merely huffed at him as if to say, 'Well, get on with it.' "Okay..."

Feeling a bit foolish even as he did, Hiccup parted his lips in a slightly awkward smile. The fairy flitted from Jack's side, hovering in the air in front of Hiccup's face as she inspected his slightly buck teeth critically. He forced himself not to flinch or pull away as she came nearer, pointed beak nearly pricking his upper lip.

Then Baby Tooth whipped back and forth between the two boys, twittering and chittering, and Hiccup found himself feeling a bit insecure as Jack laughed. He swallowed a bit nervously when the frost-rimmed creature quit cooing over his teeth to return to her perch on the vættr's shoulder.

"What did she say?"

Still laughing, Jack replied, "She thinks you have a cute smile."

Now even Toothless was laughing at Hiccup as he blushed fiercely, sputtering at the unwarranted compliment. He was painfully aware that his smile was far from cute. Still, he seemed to have met Baby Tooth's strange standards because as soon as he got his laughter under control Jack nodded and said, "All right. I'll come meet your friends tomorrow."

Again Jack climbed over his bed, soundlessly climbing out the window and onto the roof. The wind picked up again, spiraling around Jack's body and lifting him into the air.

For a few seconds Jack hung suspended outside the window, waving at Hiccup. "You should get some sleep though. See you tomorrow, kiddo!"

And with that said, Jack vanished, spiraling up into the night sky unnoticed by any of the squabbling adults in the square below. The only trace of his visit were the whorls of frost spiraling across his roof, and the blue-scaled terror curled up in his furs.

Chapter Text

W hile the humans of Berk ret urned to their homes, shutting out the dark and cold to settle in for a peaceful night's sleep, the two spirits set out to explore the strange, fascinating new world they found themselves in . The wind batted Jack about curiously, playfully, almost as it had when he first emerged from the pond. But three hundred years of experience let him ride its currents without being dropped from the sky. Even thrown centuries into the past, the wind recognized a kindred spirit . That was some small comfort, at least .

Propelled by frigid winds, Jack raced across the ocean alongside spirits of light who skipped along the waves. He frisked across the backs of sea-dwelling dragons when they broke the surface, raced with groups of selkies who leaped from the water when he drew near. Then when they dived back into the depths of the water he shot upwards into a sky blotted with stars. Baby Tooth squealed in delight and terror as he weaved through flocks of dragons high in the clouds, tracing his fingertips along scaly underbellies or along the lengths of their spines. Never before had he seen dragons in these numbers. Nor this many species, hardly any he even recognized! The larger dragons largely ignored the curious spirits flying among them, tolerating Jack's light touches with no more than a glance thrown his way, but the smaller ones, younger and more curious, sniffed at Jack, chirped excitedly, and then spun in the air after him as they began a game of chase anew.

When they flew over the deepest parts of the ocean where few humans of that time dared venture, the waves below began to swell up and up and up. Pitch dark columns of water rose, just shy of the clouds. Jack hung in the air, transfixed, while the dragon flocks disappeared into the clouds. Shapes emerged from the sea spray, silvery light from the moon tracing the curve of a jaw, the slope of a nose. Jack cracked a smile, heart hammering in his chest as the giant took form before him. Then she moved, strode forward heedless of the two spirits flitting out of her path. The wind carried Jack higher, where he could watch as the churning water in the giant's wake rose and yet another began to take shape, and then another. Waves of foam cascaded from the giants' heads and wrapped around their bodies like billowing dresses as they formed. He counted nine giants in total, each of them formed of the ocean waves and they walked just a short distance before they collapsed back into the water with a thunderous crash. Jack grinned, bubbly and excited, and spun and raced off to see even more of this world. He and Baby Tooth flew over mountains and marsh, deserts and seas. Everywhere they went, they found teeming with magic.

And then… they reached their destination.

Although Baby Tooth had said it wasn't yet built, Jack wouldn't feel right if he didn't at least check. The wind brought him where he asked, but instead of forest he found and endless field, tall, vibrant blades of grass dancing in the cold breeze. Where Big Root once stood – would one day stand – the ground was perfectly flat. He’d known already that that Big Root was much younger than its enormous size suggested. Still, as Jack wormed his toes into the soft grass, a wave of reflected starlight racing across the field as the wind swept across it, disappointment sliced deep into his chest.

The pounding of hammers against aged wood punctuated by the childish grumbling of the siblings below was slowly beginning to drive Hiccup mad. All that Sun's Day morning he and the rest of Berk's riders had been working on Mildew's roof. The task itself wasn’t intolerable, but after the stunt pulled the previous night Mildew had been placed under house arrest, meaning that not only did the six teenagers have to waste their day repairing his already dilapidated home, they had to deal with the old man's groaning and spitting.

"Dude, this suuuuuuuuuuuucks!" Snotlout groaned, no longer hammering the nail into place as he was meant to be doing but instead halfheartedly swinging the hammer against random tiles on the roof.

"Well if you'd stop whining and start working-" Astrid stepped over Snotlout, who was lying on his stomach, and grabbed hold of his wrist, digging her fingers into the leather gauntlet and directing him to hammer properly. "-we could get out of here sooner."

Releasing his wrist, Astrid cautiously made her way to the other side of the gaping hole, where Hiccup was carefully arranging the tiles over the newly built wooden railing. Under her arm she carried a stack of new tiles, which she set down next to Hiccup before grabbing the bucket of cementing paste.

"You look distracted," she commented, noting the way Hiccup seemed to stare at nothing in particular, even with his green eyes locked on the shingles. "Is something up?"

"Huh?" Hiccup blinked, realized he had laid the shingles out in the wrong direction, and began taking them back up again. "Uh, no, not really."

In truth, Hiccup had been thinking of the previous day's encounter, and the mysterious white-haired flying boy. All morning he’d been casting his eyes skyward, searching for some trace of Jack and finding nothing.

He didn’t hope the strange boy would return to Berk, unable to reach his own home. Just the opposite. In fact, now that he’d had time to think it over properly, he was beginning to regret his invitation. Snotlout had taken one look at his white hair and decided that he was a potential threat, and that was before he'd even seen Jack fly. He'd already made the mistake of gawking at Jack like he was a wild animal. No doubt the others would do worse – Snotlout accusing him of being a monster, the twins asking him obnoxious questions, Fishlegs wanting to study him like a dragon...

And, though Hiccup was loathe to admit it to even himself, a tiny, selfish part of him wanted to keep the truth about Jack to himself. Being part of a group was still new to him, and from time to time he found himself missing the days when he would sneak off to join Toothless in the woods to work on his tail fin or practice flying or play or just sit and talk. He wanted that again, to have some secret that separated him from everyone else.

"Are you brats done yet!?" Mildew's screeching voice rang in the air. A collective wince took the riders and no one answered him. "Well? I'm not getting any younger!"

"Yeah, no kidding," Hiccup grumbled under his breath. Astrid shot him a look and he fell silent.

Down below, Fishlegs 'eeped' and scrambled away from the pulley the teens had been using to carry supplies to the rooftop – as the use of their dragons had been banned – and the twins gave up on removing the knots in their hair – they had proven more hindrance than help several hours ago, so Astrid solved the problem by tying their hair together and leaving them to figure it out themselves – in favor of getting away from Mildew's front door as it flew open.

Stepping out onto the cold stone that served as his porch with bare feet, Mildew cast his beady little eyes about, fixing each of the teens with a nasty glare in turn.

"If you children are quite finished messing around, I believe there's still a hole in my roof in need of fixing," the old man growled. Only Astrid was able to meet his gaze.

"We're working on it," she snapped at him. "We could have finished hours ago, if we had our dragons, you know."

"As if the beasts can do anything but destroy things," Mildew hissed, much to Hiccup's annoyance.

"Well, at least they don't go around stealing shoes," he snapped.

Mildew cast Hiccup the stink eye, but had nothing to say in protest. Mumbling under his breath, the old hermit turned on his heel and retreated back into his hut, much to the relief of the teenagers.

"What was that about?" Fishlegs asked once the door was firmly shut.

"He got caught trying to steal everyone else's shoes last night," Astrid explained. "He was trying to make it look like the dragons did it."

"My dad punished him by taking away his shoes for the rest of the day," Hiccup finished, hands working swiftly to correct the tiles he had misaligned. "That's why he's stuck in his house; he can't walk anywhere with the snow on the ground."

“Remind me again, why are we fixing his roof?” Snotlout asked.

"IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE YOU LOUTS ARE DOING ANY WORK UP THERE!"

Snotlout snatched up the discarded hammer, jaw clamping firmly shut as he furiously set to hammering in the last nails of the new rafters.

Idly, Hiccup found himself thinking, what if Jack did come back? Never mind his friends, how would the adults react to him? Mildew… Well, Hiccup didn’t have to wonder too hard how he’d react. He had a pretty good idea already. What about the rest of the village though? How would the adults, who’d waged war with dragons for centuries without trying to find a better way until Hiccup had stumbled upon on it, react to a spirit of ice and wind? It could go any number of ways, none of which sounded particularly pleasant. Worship, he supposed, would be the best case scenario. But not likely. Not on an island of brutal cold and devastating winters.

Thoughts and worries swirled around in his head, mixing together and fueling one another. Hiccup tried to tell himself he was working himself up unnecessarily. That Jack had found his way back to his own realm, whichever it might be.

And yet, the possibility remained...

"Hey, Astrid?"

Astrid looked up from her clay-smeared hands.

"Can I talk to you in private when we're done?"

If there was one good thing about the three-hundred years of warfare with the dragons, it was that the people of Berk, even the children, had become very quick and very efficient when it came to repairing damaged buildings. By the time Hiccup had set the last shingle firmly in place it was only early afternoon and the teens immediately abandoned Mildew alone in his misery to retrieve their dragons and head for the academy.

Located high on the stone cliffs outside of the village, the dragon academy still bore the marks of its history. Darkened patches where the dragons' fire had scorched the stone remained, and white lines from claws and blades alike. Now, it was used to train dragons and their riders; the pens were empty of captive dragons but filled with tools and equipment they used in training, troughs filled with fresh water and piles of fish, and brushes and picks and files for grooming. The iron net that once closed the dragons in remained suspended from a chain above the arena, but the gate remained unlocked most days.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Astrid asked as Stormfly and Toothless touched down next to one another outside of the iron gate that led down into the ring. Hiccup shook his head and gestured to the other dragon riders, who were dismounting not far away enough for this conversation to be considered private. Nodding in understanding, Astrid dismounted her nadder.

As the other four riders led their dragons into the arena, Hiccup took Astrid's hand and led her up to the stone-carved stands from which spectators used to observe the dragon slaying.

"So… Do you remember what happened yesterday?" Hiccup asked as he took his seat above the arena. Astrid sat next to him, staring at him warily out of the corner of her eye. "You know, that thing we promised never to speak of again?"

"Not that it'd be easy to forget... Are we about to speak about it again?"

"Um, yeah." Hiccup scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "He came back. The vættr."

Astrid's eyes widened in shock, but she wasn’t yelling at him, so that was a start.

"It was when I was setting my dad's boots outside," he explained. "I just happened to see him sitting on the pier, and I couldn't help but walk up to him-"

Hiccup explained everything, from noticing Jack lingering on the docks to their part in blowing Mildew’s cover the previous night to his late night talk with Jack in his room. He even admitted how he’d impulsively reached out to touch the other boy, to ensure he was real. Astrid remained silent as Hiccup spoke, not tearing her eyes away from Hiccup's for an instant except to ensure that the other four riders were too absorbed in their own antics to notice her and Hiccup. When he finished she took a slow, steady breath, processing everything she had just heard.

"Wow. I mean, just..." She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. "So, where is he now?"

"I... I don't know," Hiccup admitted. "I invited him to come back and meet everyone, but I didn't tell him a time or a place."

"Are you sure that was such a good idea? I mean, he could be dangerous." Hiccup stared at her incredulously. "He could!"

“So could Toothless, or any dragon. And we would never have known otherwise if we hadn’t given them a chance,” Hiccup said. Toothless lay draped across the stone bench next to Hiccup, and he gave a happy rumble when Hiccup reached over to stroke his scales. "Besides, we’ve already got plenty of experience running damage control with Snotlout and the twins around.”

As if on cue, a red-orange glow covered Hookfang's body with a whoosh and Snotlout ran screaming from his saddle as flames covered his dragon's skin. The twins howled with laughter as Snotlout threw himself into the nearest water trough to douse the flames.

Astrid stared, blank-faced, before saying, "Okay, yeah, point taken."

Hiccup shook his head.

“ And when you saw him, d o you really think he looked like he was interested in hurting anyone?”

She didn’t answer right away, sucking in a breath and fixing Hiccup with a hard stare.

“No,” she finally said. “No, I didn’t get that impression either.” Behind her, Stormfly lowered her beak until she was nuzzling her rider’s hair and Astrid reached up without looking to scratch her dragon’s chin. "Still, he's one of the vættir. They're known to hurt as much as help, especially-" Here she gave Hiccup a pointed look. "-when someone offends them."

"And that's why I kind of need your help. I nearly chased him off once already being a jerk."

"And you decided it would be a good idea to introduce him to these guys?"

"Yeah, in hindsight I wish I'd just pretended I didn't know any of you." Astrid punched Hiccup in the arm playfully, though she was a fair bit stronger than she looked – stronger than Snotlout, for that matter – and Hiccup could feel the beginnings of a bruise as he rubbed the afflicted spot. "Can you just... help me figure out how to break it to these guys?"

"I almost think I'd rather fight the Red Death again," Astrid sighed. "Out of curiosity, how did your father take it?"

“ He didn’t because I didn’t tell him,“ Hiccup said. “D-don’t- don’t look at me like that. I don’t know if he’d believe me in the first place. I wasn't even sure you would. And even if he did..." Absently mindedly he traced circles with his thumb on the underside of Toothless's jaw, earning a pleased rumble. " I'm not convinced he'd take it well."

Astrid said nothing right away. Hiccup 's eyes remained on his best friend as his fingers continued to trail over glossy black scales of their own accord. Then a gentle hand rested on his shoulder, Astrid giving him a reassuring squeeze.

"Let's just worry about what we're going to say to these muttonheads for now," she said. " And we'll worry about later, later."

With a nod and a grateful smile, Hiccup stood, Astrid doing the same and the pair made their way back down into the ring.

"What were you two lovebirds talking about?" Tuffnut teased as they reentered the ring. Ruffnut and Barf-and-Belch snickered alongside him at the sight of Hiccup's face going crimson.

"Ha ha, very funny," the brunette said dryly, trying and failing to will away his blush. "Actually, I have an announcement to make, and it's kind of a big one."

"Ooh, ooh! What is it? A new training exercise? Or have you uncovered a new species of dragon? Or-"

"If you'll let me get to it, Fishlegs," Hiccup interrupted, before Fishlegs' questions could grow even more convoluted. "It's none of those things. I, uh... I invited someone to join us here at the academy."

Four pairs of eyes stared at Hiccup expectantly. Feeling his resolve weaken, he turned to the strong-willed girl standing beside him, but Astrid merely ignored him while pretending to inspect her nails.

"Iiiis this someone we know?" Fishlegs asked when he noticed Hiccup hesitating. He considered how to answer.

"Sort of?"

"Is it someone from the village?" Ruffnut asked. Hiccup shook his head.

"Definitely not."

"Is she cute?" Snotlout chimed in. Everyone stared at him. "What?"

"Um, well, she's a guy," Hiccup explained. "And, uh, we met him yesterday. When he fell out of the sky."

Hiccup paused for a moment to let the words sink in. Four pairs of eyes widened in realization, some more quickly than others. Silence fell over the academy, the dragons perking up from their lazed states as they noticed the anxiety that had taken hold of their riders. Finally, Snotlout broke the silence.

"Are you out of your mind!?"

"Calm down, Snotlout," Astrid ordered, but to no avail.

"Calm down!? How can I be calm when Hiccup invited a freaking jötunn to come eat us!?"

"We don't know for sure he's one of the jötnar," Hiccup said. "But even if he is I'm pretty confident he's not going to eat anybody."

"Are you saying you were able to meet him again, Hiccup?" Fishlegs breathed. As Hiccup had predicted, he seemed rather enthused by the whole thing. "And you talked to him and everything? Did he say who he was? Did he say what he was?"

"He's vættr, that's all I can be sure of," Hiccup said. "But setting that aside, he's just a teenager trying to find his way home."

With a stern expression, Astrid took over the conversation.

"Look, Hiccup's already invited him to come see us train dragons. The least we can do is try to make a good impression. Right Stormfly?"

Behind her the colorful, parrot-like dragon squawked, bobbing her head and flapping her wings in show as nadders often did when trying to impress someone.

"See?" Astrid said. "Stormfly's on board."

Hiccup considered something seriously wrong with his circle of friends when he realized that the spine-covered deadly nadder was genuinely his best bet at making a good first impression with a stranger.

"I don't actually know for sure he's coming here," Hiccup took over once more. "When I spoke to him last night, it seemed like he was planning on searching for a way to go home. Chances are, we won't ever see him again."

"Good!" Snotlout shot, earning a stern look from the two senior dragon riders.

"The reason I'm telling you," Hiccup continued, "is because if he does come back I don't want anyone reacting exactly how you're acting right now! I know you guys only met him briefly yesterday, but I actually got a chance to talk with him. Jack never tried to hurt me, and when we saw Mildew trying to frame the dragons he was the one who threw the snowballs and woke up my dad."

"Jack?" Tuffnut snorted. "That's a dumb name."

" I'm sure Jack Frost is a perfectly normal name in his realm," Hiccup replied.

Snotlout continued to glare at him, and Hiccup swore he felt the temperature inside the arena drop twenty degrees.

"Well you know what?" the brawny teen groused. "You all can get buddy-buddy with him. Hookfang and I, on the other hand, will be getting as far away from freaky ice guys as possible. Hope you all have fun getting... eat... -en..." Snotlout trailed off slowly, dread creeping up his throat as he realized that each of the other riders and their dragons were staring at him, their eyes wide; Fishlegs's with wonder, the twins' with shock, and Hiccup's and Astrid's with something akin to horror.

"Why're you all looking at me like that?"

Then Snotlout felt ice cold breath blow into his ear. He would later deny having made the shrill noise that came out of his mouth.

With nowhere else to go, Jack had the wind carry them back to Berk. Slivers of pale morning light peeked from behind the mountaintop when Jack arrived, lighting the small village at its base. There were a few people up and about, but none of them thought to look up, and briefly Jack wondered if that would have mattered. As tempted as he was to find out, Jack restrained himself. At the highest point in the village, higher up the slope than even the chief's hut, a massive set of stone doors were set into the side of a cliff. On either side stood a colossal statue of a viking warrior, each with long, swirling beards. One with its mouth open in a ferocious snarl and sword held under its chin and the other with its blade held between its dagger-like teeth. Jack perched atop the helmet of one of these statues, eagerly watching the vikings below as they went about their morning routine.

By the light of the sun he could properly see the vibrantly painted dragon figureheads carved into their buildings, into the ships, and decorating their plaza. Many of the creatures, – some of them bird-like, some more reptilian, others resembling bats or cats or dogs – hung around the village, basking in the weak sun atop the roofs or following the adults about as they did their chores or playing with the children as they ran about underfoot.A burly man with a braided red beard hollered and bellowed at the people, a strange blonde man with one hook hand and one peg leg went about fixing dragon teeth (and wouldn't Toothiana just be thrilled to hear about that), and the children of Berk ran through the snow slush as they played with their fire-breathing friends, teaching the dragons how to make snow-forts and how to launch aerial snowball assaults. The sun rose higher into the sky, warming the stone and the back of his neck.

"I think I could get to like this place," Jack admitted to Baby Tooth after they'd been watching for a long while. "It's pretty cool."

((Stranger?))

Jack and Baby Tooth's heads snapped up simultaneously, and they found a violet-scaled parrot-like dragon staring down at them.

((Caution-wingless-stranger-caution-you-no-nest-here-stranger-you-good?-yes?))

Baby Tooth glared at the dragon from Jack's shoulder while her larger-self just smiled. The line of questioning brought to mind the black-scaled dragon from the previous night.

"Hi there. I'm Jack." Unthinking, Jack placed his hand on the dragon's beak-like snout. "Nice to meet you."

The dragon crooned, leaning into his touch. ((Stranger-Icicle-gentle-good-Icicle-good.))

Icicle. Strange; Toothless had called him that too. There probably wasn’t a way of saying ‘Jack’ in dragon-speak, but why ‘Icicle?’ Because he was skinny and cold? Seemed as good an explanation as any.

"Thanks," he said, giving the dragon a light scratch. "I like you too."

Now that he thought about it, Jack hadn’t seen Toothless among the dragons in the village all morning. Hiccup was nowhere to be seen either. The other teens he wasn't so sure about – he couldn’t remember their faces very clearly – but if he were to venture a guess he'd say they probably weren't in the village either. Very suddenly he remembered his promise to meet them, and he began to wonder if they were out looking for him.

"What do you think Baby Tooth?" he asked, rising to his feet. "Should we go looking for Hiccup and Toothless?"

((I'm not so sure that's a good idea,)) she said, frowning slightly. ((It can be dangerous for us to carelessly reveal ourselves to humans. Especially grown-ups.))

"Hiccup isn't a grown-up," Jack pointed out. "Not quite yet, anyway. And he's friends with dragons. And he can see us."

((He's rude,)) Baby Tooth countered petulantly, and Jack couldn't help laughing.

"Well, I'd like to go see him. And maybe meet his other friends." Jack shrugged. "Who knows, you might like some of them."

Baby Tooth didn't say anything right away, but Jack could still feel her agitated thoughts swirling around; flashes of memory inherited from her mother-self, the terror of being hunted and caged. He cupped a hand around her, thumb stroking her silver feather.

"You could get another look at his cute, goofy teeth," Jack said in sing-song.

Baby Tooth pondered this.

((Let's go.))

Waving a goodbye to the violet dragon, Jack leaped from the statue. If anyone in the village below happened to look up at that moment all they would have seen was a blur of blue and white.

Jack might not have had a clue where to search for Hiccup, but past, present, and future the wind was on his side, and it knew Berk and its people well enough to carry Jack right to the dragon riding teens.

He touched down silently on the chain-link net that covered the bowl-shaped arena, balancing precariously on the thin metal rods.

"Um, well, she's a guy."

Jack's face lit up as his eyes landed on Hiccup. He was standing in the center of the ring among a group of teens, three of them boys and the other two girls. Jack leaned down, careful not to alert any of them of his presence just yet. Already he could feel his heart thrumming in his chest; these people could see him. He was about to be introduced to a group of teens his age (well, he amended, his physical age) and he wanted to make a good entrance.

"And, uh, we met him yesterday. When he fell out of the sky."

Jack held a breath he didn't need as he awaited their response.

"Are you out of your mind!?"

And then he flinched, heart sinking at the dark-haired boy's outburst.

"Calm down, Snotlout," the girl with the braid ordered.

"Calm down!? How can I be calm when Hiccup invited a freaking jötunn to come eat us!?"

"We don't know for sure he's one of the jötnar," Hiccup said. "But even if he is I'm pretty confident he's not going to eat anybody."

"Are you saying you were able to meet him again, Hiccup?" The largest boy sounded slightly breathless from excitement, but that didn't relieve Jack at all. Especially as he continued to speak. "And you talked to him and everything? Did he say who he was? Did he say what he was?"

The rough wood of his staff dug into Jack's skin as he tightened his hold on it. This… was starting to feel like a mistake. Baby Tooth's hand rested on his cheek, offering a little comfort.

"He's vættr, that's all I can be sure of," Hiccup said. "But setting that aside, he's just a teenager trying to find his way home."

Jack stared at Hiccup, expression softening.

"Look, Hiccup's already invited him to come see us train dragons," the braided girl said, oblivious to her audience. "The least we can do is try to make a good impression. Right Stormfly?"

Behind her the colorful, parrot-like dragon squawked. She alone noticed Jack perched atop the metal net, and when he waved at her a bit sheepishly she flapped her wings and bobbed her head as though to wave back.

"See?" Astrid said. "Stormfly's on board."

"I don't actually know for sure he's coming here," Hiccup took over once more. "When I spoke to him last night, it seemed like he was planning on searching for a way to go home. Chances are, we won't ever see him again."

"Good!" the burly kid – Snotlout – snapped.

"The reason I'm telling you," Hiccup continued, "is because if he does come back I don't want anyone reacting exactly how you're acting right now! I know you guys only met him briefly yesterday, but I actually got a chance to talk with him. Jack never tried to hurt me, and when we saw Mildew trying to frame the dragons he was the one who threw the snowballs and woke up my dad."

Jack couldn’t help the swell of pride he felt as they talked of his deeds. It was about time someone noticed the good work he did!

Then the boy twin opened his mouth and ruined his good mood.

"Jack?" Tuffnut snorted. "That's a dumb name."

" I'm sure Jack Frost is a perfectly normal name in his realm," Hiccup replied.

'All right, that's it,' Jack thought, temperature dropping with his mood. Down below Snotlout was glaring openly at Hiccup, and since he was the one who had annoyed Jack the most, Jack was going to start with him. Baby Tooth snickered, retreating into his hood as Jack slowly lowered himself from the net.

"Well you know what?" the brawny teen groused, unaware of Jack's presence. "You all can get buddy-buddy with him. Hookfang and I, on the other hand, will be getting as far away from freaky ice guys as possible."

It was to Jack's great amusement that the rust-colored dragon, Hookfang, did not seem to be on board with his rider's wishes. The dragon was the first besides Stormfly to notice his movement, and when Jack raised a finger to his lips the dragon he tucked his head under his wing and proceeded to ignore him.

"Hope you all have fun getting..."

Jack landed right behind Snotlout.

"Eat..."

He smirked at the other teens, giving them a friendly wave for good measure.

"-en…"

Snotlout trailed off slowly, the shift in his friends' expressions only just beginning to dawn on him.

"Why're you all looking at me like that?"

Standing on his tiptoes, Jack leaned forward and blew icy breath into Snotlout's ear. Snotlout shrieked and leaped twenty feet into the air. Jack burst out laughing as the brute landed in a heap on the ground, scrabbling at his ear and head whipping around fearfully. It was only when he flipped himself onto his stomach and got a good look behind him that Snotlout saw Jack, and when he did he was scrambling again, trying to put as much distance between himself and Jack.

"You know," the white-haired teen said as his laughter died down, "I always thought vikings were supposed to be tough."

For a moment a heavy silence fell over the arena, twelve pairs of eyes fixed on Jack. Then Hiccup broke the silence with a nervous cough, walking up to Jack and putting a hand on his shoulder. Jack only just managed to resist the urge to flinch away.

"Uh, Jack, these are my friends. Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, and Astrid." He gestured to each of them in turn, and when Astrid heard her name she had come to herself enough to nod at Jack. "Guys, this is-"

"Jack Frost," the spirit cut him off. "Spirit of Winter, bringer of snowballs and fun times, but if that's too hard to remember you can stick with 'freaky ice guy'."

Out of the corner of his eye Jack caught Hiccup's grimace. A tiny part of him felt a bit guilty; maybe he should have waited a bit longer, given the viking teen more time to prepare his friends. A larger part was annoyed. They lived with dragons, so why was he so hard for them to accept?

"For the record," he continued, "I don't eat humans. Terrible for the digestion."

"Dude..." Tuffnut drawled. "Were you really the one messing with Mildew last night?"

Jack gave them a mock bow.

"Guilty as charged!"

Identical wide grins split the twins' faces in half and they cried out in unison, "AWESOME!"

Jack and Hiccup blinked a bit stupidly.

"Sucks that you don't eat people," Tuffnut continued. "Do you at least have fangs?"

"No," Jack answered, hooking his pinky inside his cheek and showing off his perfectly straight, white teeth for just a moment. "But I could make some if I wanted."

The twins grinned and stepped closer.

"So how does this snow and ice thing work?"

"Are you a god?"

"Are you single?"

The last question was posed by Ruffnut who, along with Fishlegs and Tuffnut, begun to crowd uncomfortably close to Jack. His smirk faltered as he took an automatic step back.

"Hey guys, back up a little..." Hiccup tried to place himself between Jack and the others, but was unable to squeeze past the larger teens. Astrid, fortunately, took charge of the situation.

"Hey guys, back off!" she snapped. Instantly Fishlegs and the Tuffnut leaped back to do as she said, but she had to grab Ruffnut by the horns of her helmet and yank her away from Jack, to his immediate relief. She cowed them with a withering glare before turning back to him and offering a reassuring smile "Sorry about these idiots. They don't know when to shut up. Let me start over; thank you for saving our dragons."

"Uh, sure." A slow, silly smile began to form on Jack's face and he twirled his staff in his hand. "Yeah, no problem."

Sensing her rider's approval, Stormfly approached Jack, large head cocking this way and that. Jack noted that her eyes were on either side of her head, so she had to turn her head in order to look at him.

“Stormfly says ‘thank you’ too,” Astrid added with a sincere smile.

((You-Icicle-good-Without-Teeth-say-good-you-good.))

From that Jack gathered that Toothless had told the other dragons about him.

((Me-Flies-in-Storm-me-winged-half-Astrid-me-hers-she-mine.))

"Nice to meet you, Stormfly," Jack said, placing his hand on the dragon's snout and stroking up along the length of her horn. Astrid stared at him, wide-eyed.

"Wow," she breathed, placing a hand on Stormfly's flank. "She normally doesn't let strangers touch her that quickly."

"Yeah, well I'm charming," Jack teased. He missed the look Astrid shot Hiccup, and how Hiccup merely offered her a shrug in response.

Emboldened by Stormfly's approach, each of the other dragons stood, nearing Jack cautiously. Barf-and-Belch was at his side first, both heads sniffing curiously at him at once. Then Meatlug was staring up at him with huge, pleading eyes, also looking for pets. Even Hookfang lifted his head from underneath his wing and went to Jack's side, ignoring his rider's calls of 'traitor'.

Their crowding was easier to handle than their riders'. A certain someone, however, did not share his good mood.

The dragons jolted back suddenly when a shill tweeting filled the air. Baby Tooth flew from Jack's hood, wings humming furiously as she told the curious dragons off.

((Back! Back, you brutes! Leave my Jack alone!)) she shrilled as she fluttered between Jack and the dragons. Jack watched, amused, as she flitted back and forth, warding off the reptiles as they tried to come closer.

"What is that?" Fishlegs breathed as he stared at the frost fairy, fingers twitching to jot down notes though he had neither a charcoal stick nor a notebook with which to do so. Baby Tooth's little beak twitched in his direction, and when she saw him she began to gesture wildly with her pea-sized hands, squeaking out a long string of words that Jack didn't know she knew.

"She's beautiful!" Astrid said, drawing bewildered stares from the rest of the group. Fortunately for them she was too enthralled by the fairy to notice.

"Her name is Baby Tooth," Jack explained as his fairy's tirade came to an end and she instead turned to lock eyes with Astrid. "She's my best friend."

Astrid smiled and held out her hand to Baby Tooth, crooking her finger to make a fitting perch. "Hello Baby Tooth."

The fairy seemed to consider her for a moment, and then she perched on the viking girl's finger, twittering happily.

"She likes you," Jack translated, oblivious to the stares he and Astrid were garnering from all save Hiccup.

"Of course she does," he murmured to himself. Nobody noticed with the exception of Toothless, but instead of comforting his rider the dragon's throat undulated and he let out a mocking goff goff goff. "Way to have my back, bud."

"This is incredible," Fishlegs said as he approached Baby Tooth, still perched on Astrid's finger. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before. It doesn't resemble any known species of dragon, its body vaguely humanoid-"

Baby Tooth whirled on her perch, shooting Fishlegs a nasty glare. ((Oh yeah? Well you know what you resemble you blubber-head? A great, heaping pile of yeti sh-))

"She's a she," Jack interrupted, preventing the never ending stream of cursing he knew was ready to pour from his companion's lips. "Not an it. Also, she's a fairy, not a dragon."

"Does she grant wishes?" Ruffnut asked.

"She's not that kind of fairy."

"Well then what good is she?" Tuffnut growled. Taking offense, Baby Tooth zipped from Astrid's hand, jabbing her beak into the space between his eyes. Tuffnut had barely gotten out a yelp of pain when she shot a blast of frigid air in his face, taking the startled teen off of his feet and coating his hair and eyebrows with a thin layer of frost. Everyone stared, wide-eyed, as Tuffnut lay on the ground dazed. Then his lips moved. "That. Was. AWESOME!"

"My turn! Do me!" Ruffnut cried.

Bewildered, Jack and Baby Tooth could only stare at the two of them.

"Ooookay then." Hiccup stepped between Jack and the twins. "Sorry about that. They were raised by wild boars, and when the boars couldn't put up with them anymore they dumped them on us."

Jack snickered as Astrid gave Hiccup a light punch in the arm. Awkward introductions aside, these viking kids weren't so bad. He supposed he couldn't fault them for being curious. He was curious about them too, after all, and their dragons.

Still, was he really so strange to them? He'd seen so many spirits already…

"Hey, why don't we all go flying together?" Fishlegs suggested. "We have this course that we normally do together, and sometimes we even do a best trick competition. I'd love to record your time and compare your speed to the dragons-"

"Are you guys freaking serious!?"

Hiccup winced and Jack cocked a brow. He'd almost forgotten about the rude dark-haired one. Collectively the teens and the dragons turned to face Snotlout, whose face was pale and jaw was locked into what he hoped was a menacing scowl.

"We still don't know what that guy is, and now you wanna be his best friend!?"

Astrid's hands balled into fists. "Snotlout-" she started, only to be interrupted by Jack.

"No, no, the talking toad is right.”

The twins burst out into hysterical laughter as Snotlout's face turned beet red.

"I’m not a toad!"

Jack grinned.

"Yeah, you’re right. I apologize to toads everywhere for this comparison."

Somehow the twins' laughter became even louder, and even Fishlegs was giggling through his fingers.

"Okay, let's all just calm down..." Hiccup said, attempting to calm his cousin. He stepped in front of Jack, holding his hands up to Snotlout as he might a wild dragon. "Snotlout, there's no reason to be scared."

Well that was the exact wrong thing to say. Even knowing Snotlout for a grand total of four minutes Jack knew that much.

"I'm not scared!" Snotlout protested, pride smarting. "Out of my way, Useless," he snapped as he shoved his much smaller cousin aside. Hiccup staggered, but was caught by Toothless who pressed his head against his rider's back to help him regain his balance before growling at Snotlout.

((Worry-Hiccup-protect-Hiccup-Love-worry-bad-Snotlout-bad-bad.))

Hiccup placed his hand on Toothless's muzzle, calming him, though the nightfury's eyes remained fixed on Snotlout in an open glare.

Snotlout hadn’t noticed the dragon's protectiveness, however. He was nose-to-nose with Jack now, in a vain attempt to cow the other teen into backing down. Baby Tooth was trembling with fury, but Jack wasn't giving this guy the satisfaction of getting under his skin. His lips were still tilted in a slight smirk and his free hand, the one not holding the staff, was resting on his hip.

"Now you listen here," Snotlout growled. "I don't like you and you don't belong here."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh no. I don't have the approval of this one arrogant jerk. I no longer have a reason to live."

When Hookfang lowered his head, a loud goff goff goff bursting from his throat, Snotlout seemed to lose it. With an unintelligible cry he threw himself at Jack, swinging his fists wildly. Jack reacted before anyone else could, leaping straight up and landing on one foot atop Snotlout's helmet. The viking teen staggered a bit, and when Jack pushed off, leaping over his back, his balance was thrown and he went sprawling face first into a pile of snow.

Jack laughed as he landed gracefully a few feet away, twirling his staff over his shoulders. "Hey, that was kinda fun. Best two out of three?"

Snotlout gurgled into his snow pile.

"Okay, so that's over with." Hiccup put his hand on Jack's shoulder, urging him towards the exit. "Flying, yeah? Let's go do that."

Behind them Snotlout slowly staggered to his feet. He’d hardly taken two steps, however, when there was a whistling fwit fwit fwit and he was propelled backwards, pinned to the wall of the arena by the quills from Stormfly's tail, which had caught him by the tunic and trousers.

"Uh, guys?" he cried, pulling against the quills uselessly. "A little help here?"

"Is he going to be okay?" Jack asked as Astrid and Hiccup pushed him towards the exit.

"Unfortunately, yes," Astrid replied with a roll of her eyes.

The teens filed out of the arena, their dragons close behind them. Only Hookfang stayed behind with Snotlout, though the dragon continued to fix his rider with an exasperated look as he struggled to free himself.

Baby Tooth's emotions swirled together with Jack's as they spun through the clouds, whooping and hollering. Behind him he could hear the roar of wings, and ahead he could see a flash of red and black weaving its way through the clouds.

Not for long, though.

Jack accelerated forward, keeping himself just above Hiccup and Toothless as he quickly closed the distance. For a while he flew directly above the pair, snickering silently as they continued on, oblivious to him, and when he could no longer stand to wait he tapped on Hiccup's head, spilling fine shards of blue magic and yelling:

"Tag! You're it!"

He out of reach before Hiccup could blink. Affected by Jack's magic, of course Hiccup took the challenge.

Toothless's tail fin shifted and soon they were gaining once again on Jack. Hiccup leaned forward in the saddle, intent on getting at least the spirit's foot before he noticed them gaining, but Baby Tooth was keeping watch and she chirped in Jack's ear, warning him of his pursuers. Throwing a quick glance over his shoulder, Jack considered his odds of keeping ahead of the nightfury. Then he stopped, hanging suspended in the air. Hiccup and Toothless, unprepared, shot ahead of him and before they realized what had happened Jack had already flown off in the opposite direction.

"Hiccup's it, don't let him catch you!" Jack cried, spilling more sparkling flakes of blue magic in his wake as he passed by the other dragon riders. They caught on quickly and scattered, each of them flying in a different direction.

Toothless shot through the sky, leaping above the cloud layer to hide and diving when he caught the vague outline of a zippleback through the fluff.

"You're it!" Hiccup cried as he tapped Ruffnut on the helmet. He was gone before she could retaliate, he and Toothless free falling towards the sea far below.

Ruffnut turned to her brother and punched him. "You're it!"

"No!" he growled, throwing her a punch back. "You're it!"

"You're it!"

"You're it!"

"No, you're it!"

"Guys!"

Both twins turned at once, fists still cocked, and found Jack perched on Barf-and-Belch's back, a dry expression on his face and his hand outstretched to them. Both twins tapped his hand at once.

"No tag-backs, okay?"

He was gone from their dragon's back before they could respond.

Astrid and Stormfly kept just above the churning waves, using the reflection on the water to see whether or not someone was approaching from above. So when they saw the flash of white flit across the surface they swerved just in time to avoid being tagged by Jack.

"Whoa!" Jack cried as he missed his mark, nearly plummeting into the sea. His feet had only just brushed the waves when the churning water transformed into sweeping walls of ice which he skated along just as quickly as he had ridden the wind. Astrid stared in awe before she was laughing and racing ahead, still avoiding his outstretched fingers.

Stormfly tilted her wings and shot straight up into the sky, squawking madly as she did and nearly colliding with Meatlug. Jack followed after her, slapping Fishlegs's shoulder as he sped past the gronkle-rider pair.

"Tag! Bye!"

"Oh!" Fishlegs narrowed his eyes in concentration, face puffing up as he directed Meatlug to fly towards the nearest dragon rider. His whole body shook as Meatlug's tiny wings buzzed, propelling them towards the twins.

"Barf!"

"Belch!"

"Go down!"

"Go right!"

The twins' conflicting instructions confused the poor dragon and he went into a spiral towards the ocean. Fishlegs and Meatlug hovered in place and as the quartet plummeted through the air Fishlegs simply held out his hand, tapping one of the twins – he was unsure of which – as they fell.

"You're it!"

"You're it!"

"No, you're it!"

"Guys!" Jack interrupted. "No tag-backs, remember?"

There was a pregnant pause before the twins replied in unison: "Oh yeeeeeeaahhhh."

Barf-and-Belch righted himself in the air, angling his wings and gaining elevation without the help of either of his chaotic riders. The twins caught sight of Jack, who was hanging in the air just above them. He gave them a cheeky grin before spinning in the air and speeding off, and unable to resist the challenge they gave chase.

"Astrid! Look alive!" the winter spirit cried as he spiraled past her. Astrid threw a glance over her shoulder and, seeing the twins gaining, pressed her body closer to Stormfly's.

"Up, Stormfly! Go, go, go!"

Stormfly squawked and tilted her wings, turning at close to a ninety-degree angle as she shot straight up into the sky. The twins swept around at a much wider arc as they attempted to follow, putting more distance between them and their new target. Stormfly's wings cut the clouds as they disappeared into them and they made another sharp turn, attempting to shake off their pursuers. At this point Astrid was beginning to lose track of which way was up and which way was down, but she was too elated to care.

The zippleback and the deadly nadder whirled around each other in the clouds, their wings slicing the clouds and leaving streaks of fluff in their wake. Astrid laughed as she and Stormfly easily outmaneuvered the twins' clumsy attempts to tag her until she notice a greenish pallor to the clouds.

"Light it up, Belch!"

Astrid had time to do nothing but shield her eyes as Barf's gas combusted. The flames didn't touch her, but as she felt a hand on the side of her head and heard an obnoxious voice calling "You're it!" she realized that hadn’t been the point.

"C'mon Stormfly!" the viking girl cried as the pair dove back down through the clouds.

Below Astrid caught sight of the massive black shadow that was Toothless in flight. Smirking, she and Stormfly descended. Having learned from the first time, however, Hiccup was prepared for the aerial attack. Toothless's head-fins twitched as he caught the sound of Stormfly's wings beating in the air and as she came closer he tilted his wings to the side, swerving just out of Astrid's reach.

"C'mon Astrid! I'm starting to think you're slowing down!" Hiccup teased over his shoulder.

Astrid responded with a glare and she and Stormfly accelerated forward.

"Whoops." Hiccup patted Toothless's head, leaning so he could talk into his best friend's ear. "Well, that got her attention."

Toothless tucked his wings close to his body, dropping towards the ocean and then snapping up right before they hit the waves. At this point they were hardly even paying attention to whether or not they were being followed; a pod of thunderdrums rose to break the surface just underneath them and as one great wing cut the waves Hiccup flipped Toothless's tail fin for just a moment. He and the dragon spun underneath the thunderdrum's wing, and just above them Astrid and Stormfly were forced to pull up before they could collide with the wild dragon.

"Hey, no fair!" she cried, though her tone was playful. Hiccup threw her a smirk over his shoulder which she returned before leaning forward in her saddle and urging Stormfly onward.

The nightfury lived up to his reputation, however, as one of the fastest species of dragons. The water beneath them broke as they pierced the air, kicking up a spray of sea foam in their wake. Stormfly and Astrid dogged Toothless and Hiccup for several minutes, but the nightfury-rider pair always kept ahead, adding acrobatic loops and whirls to their flight in show and intentionally staying just out of reach, to Astrid's never ending frustration. Behind her Astrid could hear the other dragon riders cheering her on. It occurred to her that she could easily catch one of the others, but her competitive nature prevented her from giving up on Hiccup to go after one of the easier targets.

All of the sudden a blur of blue and white raced by her. Stormfly's wings shot out, catching the air and slowing down before they could crash into Jack, but he flew on ahead as though he hadn't even noticed. The shepherd's crook in his hand was alight, blue magic spiraling down its length from his fingertips. Before anyone realized what was happening Jack fired a bolt of blue light ahead of Hiccup and Toothless which transformed into a burst of powdery flakes. Visibility impaired, the two of them slowed as Hiccup tried to swipe the snow from his eyes. Toothless's lips parted and his tongue flapped in the air, catching the snowflakes that blew into his face.

Musical laughter rang out; Hiccup opened his eyes to see Jack flying right next to him. The spirit gave him a cheeky wave before rocketing ahead and before he could process what had happened Astrid had overtaken him on Stormfly, swatting the back of his head as she passed and shouting, "Gotcha!"

"Okay, and how is that fair!?"

The two teens in front of him laughed and clapped their hands together in a high-five.

"Okay bud," Hiccup said just loud enough to be heard over the wind as he patted the side of Toothless's head. "Let's give 'em a taste of their own medicine."

Toothless's mouth shot open and he fired a violet plasma bolt straight ahead. The ball of flame flew in between Jack and Astrid – who faltered in surprise – and exploded in the air before them. The resulting flash of light and smoke stunned them only momentarily, allowing Toothless to gain significant ground, and when they started moving again it was in opposite directions, Astrid and Stormfly turning sharply to the right while Jack swerved to the left. The prosthetic clicked as Hiccup shifted it in the stirrup, steering his dragon left after Jack.

((He's right behind you!)) Baby Tooth chirped into Jack's ear. Casting his ice-blue eyes over his shoulder, Jack saw Toothless's silhouette growing larger and larger against the clouds as the distance between them slowly disappeared.

"Not for long he isn't," Jack boasted, turning his gaze ahead. His eyes swept across the horizon until they landed on several dark shapes in the distance rising from the waves. Throwing Hiccup a cheeky look, he shouted, "C'mon kiddo! Just try to keep up!" Then he twisted in the air, the Wind carrying him towards the crooked spires of rock in the distance.

"Let's go Toothless!" Hiccup leaned forward in the saddle as he urged his partner forward. Jack grew larger and larger as the distance separating them rapidly shrank, and Hiccup raised his body from the saddle, arm outstretched as he reached for the mischievous spirit, fingertips mere inches away from brushing the spirit's foot.

Suddenly Jack snapped to the side and Hiccup's eyes grew wide as he saw the jagged sea-stack jutting up from the waves ahead of him.

"Whoah!"

The scrawny viking yanked on Toothless's saddle and the nightfury shot straight up into the air, claws scraping over the stone they had avoided by a hair's breath. As they flew over the towering structure Hiccup once again caught sight of Jack who was hanging suspended in the air just ahead of them and giving the pair a hearty wave. Jack laughed before spinning and flying into the maze of sea-stacks, weaving fluidly around the rigid spires. Hiccup huffed and flipped Toothless's tail fin and the chase was on.

The trio swerved and spun through and around the forest of rising stone, sometimes only catching fleeting glimpses of one another as their game of tag transformed into a race. At one point Toothless and Jack were close enough that the spirit decided to just perch atop the nightfury's back. Hiccup threw a glance over his shoulder as they flew onward, beaming at the spirit, and then directed Toothless towards one of the spires. The dragon swerved around the thick base, spiraling up the length as Jack ran the tip of his staff over the surface, leaving a sparkling trail of ice in their wake.

Both boys whooped as they flew straight up into the clouds, out of sight of the rest of the riders below. Toothless's body sent a spray of fluffy white clouds in every direction as they broke the layer and Jack leaped from his back with a grin, flying in wide loops around the nightfury-rider pair and leaving wisps of snow-filled air in his wake. Hiccup laughed as he and Toothless spiraled through the wintry tunnel Jack had created mid-air. Suddenly Toothless's wings shot out, scattering the snow in every direction and he swerved in between clouds as though they were an obstacle course.

By now the sun was beginning to set, painting the clouds with the color of dusk. Hiccup and Jack trailed side-by-side over the pink and orange clouds, Jack riding his staff like a snowboard and Hiccup leaning up in Toothless's saddle so he could feel the wind flowing between his body and the dragon's as they flew. The two boys exchanged glances and laughed, their hearts pounding in exhilaration. Even Baby Tooth was beaming.

Unable to contain his excitement, Toothless shot out a plasma bolt. Jack chuckled and swerved up while Hiccup's smile fell and his shoulders sagged.

"Aw, not again..."

"You know," Jack teased between snickers, "That's a good look for you."

"Oh, shut up."

With the sun slowly slipping past the horizon the five dragon riders plus Jack had returned to Berk's northern shore. The teens lounged in the grass as their dragons caught their breath and basked in the waning light, and Jack watched over them from his perch atop a moss-covered boulder. Hiccup's hair stuck straight back and soot coated his face and his clothes. At a certain point Hiccup had expected one of the others to stop laughing long enough to ask if he was alright, but nobody did. Even Astrid was snickering at him.

"I can't remember the last time I had that much fun," Astrid admitted. At the moment she was leaning against Stormfly's side, stroking her tired dragon's back as Stormfly cooed in pleasure. "When was the last time we just played around like that?"

"Ruff and I tipped some yaks this morning," Tuffnut replied. He lay against Barf-and-Belch's side, arms folded across his stomach and foot bouncing rhythmically. Ruffnut sat beside him, her pose mirroring her brother's. "Does that count?"

With a roll of her eyes and an annoyed huff, Astrid replied, "No, of course it doesn- Wait, you were with us this morning fixing Mildew's roof. When did you have time to go yak-tipping?"

The twins exchanged looks and decided not to volunteer that information.

"I just wish I had brought my notes," Fishlegs said without looking up from Meatlug's knobbly toes, which he was massaging dutifully. "It looks like Jack's speed is comparable to Toothless's. I'd love to see them racing at top speed."

Jack hummed, and didn't comment. Baby Tooth sat perched on his knee and he traced his fingertip along her silver feather as she cooed contentedly.

"It's getting pretty late," Hiccup pointed out as he pushed himself to his feet. Toothless mirrored his partner, hopping up and flicking his tail eagerly as Hiccup placed one foot in the stirrup. "We should get back before it gets dark."

The twins groaned, but climbed into Barf-and-Belch's saddles, Astrid and Fishlegs following suit. Jack remained in his perch, watching as they mounted their dragons.

"Jack," Astrid called. "Aren't you coming?"

He blinked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Coming?"

"To the village," she said. "You weren't planning on staying out here, were you?"

Jack stared at the viking for a moment.

"I mean… Yeah?"

"We can't just leave you out here," Astrid insisted, Stormfly agreeing in dragon-speak. "There's space in my house, if you need a place to stay."

"No, really," Jack said, waving off the kind, misplaced offer. "Nature spirit thing. I'm more comfortable outside."

"But, there are wild dragons in the woods," Fishlegs argued. "And not just dragons; bears, wolves, boars, poisonous plants..."

"Hey, relax," Jack said as he finally moved from his perch. The wind lifted him from the boulder, Baby Tooth taking to the air next to him as he touched down on the grass. "I'm a three hundred year old weather spirit. I know how to take care of myself."

Nobody could formulate a proper response to that.

Well, nobody aside from Ruffnut who sighed dreamily and said, "You look good for your age."

Laughing, Jack twirled his staff in his hands and assured the teens, "So it's alright, alright? Don't worry about me."

Neither Astrid nor Fishlegs looked particularly reassured. Neither was Hiccup, if the lanky teen were being perfectly honest with himself, but he didn’t think trying to push Jack into anything would help. Perhaps someday Jack would trust them enough to come to the village, but like he had with Toothless, Hiccup knew that he would have to work for it.

So instead of joining Astrid in Fishlegs in their side of the argument, Hiccup offered Jack a sincere smile and said, "Hey, why don't you come back to the academy again tomorrow?"

Jack smiled, tilting his head.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Rubbing his partner's head, Hiccup went on, "We had a lot of fun today, and I'm sure the dragons would enjoy having you visit."

"Absolutely," Astrid chimed in.

"You can visit me anytime," Ruffnut said, giving Jack a wink while her brother groaned. Jack blinked, smiling politely at the pair.

"Yeah... Yeah, I think I'd like that." Exchanging a look with Baby Tooth, he added, "We'll meet you at the academy tomorrow then?"

Hiccup nodded as Toothless's wings flared out.

"Tomorrow."

And like that, the five dragon riders shot up into the sky, waving down at Jack and shouting their goodbyes. Jack waved back, keeping his eyes skyward until long after they had vanished. Baby Tooth's wings buzzed by his ear. She said nothing, but her bubbling emotions mirrored Jack's.

A cool breeze tugged at his hair and shook the trees. With the teens gone the only sound came from the crash of waves far below at the bottom of the cliff and the hum of birds and insects from the forest. Golden light danced across the surface of the ocean as the sun sank further behind the horizon.

It had been a good day, Jack decided. He wasn't sure what Pitch had been thinking, tossing him through the time machine. Maybe he wasn't. But he knew that if Pitch could see how easily he'd found Berk and its teens he never would have done it. The Guardians weren't in danger yet, but they would be, in however many centuries. Jack tilted his head back, breathing in deep the cool, crisp air. He could get there before Pitch did anything to them.

They had nothing if not time. If they had to take the slow path back home, they could at least have some fun along the way.

Chapter Text

The only sound in Hiccup's room was the faintly rhythmic scratching of his charcoal stick against the paper. Already Toothless was sound asleep, chest rising and falling gently in time with his inaudible breaths. The room was lit by dim candlelight, enough for Hiccup to see his journal page by but not enough to spill downstairs or annoy the sleeping nightfury. Humming thoughtfully to himself, Hiccup set his charcoal aside, gently rubbing out a line he disliked with his fingers before picking the stick back up and retracing the line the way he wanted it.

In his drawing, black-and-yellow figures danced in the air, Toothless's wings outstretched and cutting the clouds around him with Hiccup leaning forward in his saddle as Jack and Baby Tooth hung in the air in front of them, Jack's face donning a warm smile.

Two days had passed already and Jack had more or less become an unofficial seventh member of the academy. The others had reacted better than Hiccup ever could have dreamed. Even Snotlout was… well, not warming up to him, exactly, but he was a lot less vocal in his protests, seeing as no one – not even his dragon – was going to take his side. More importantly, he hadn't told any of the adults.

Absorbed in his drawing as he was, Hiccup hardly noticed the creak of wood as a familiar, heavy set of feet ascended the stairs. When he heard the metallic clang of a helmet hitting the wooden ceiling followed by a gruff 'Doh!' his head snapped up, green eyes blinking in surprise as they took in the sight of Stoick hunching under the low wooden rafter that hung just above the top of the stairs.

"Hey Dad," Hiccup whispered, moving discretely to slide his drawing aside and out of view, though he didn’t know why he bothered; Stoick never so much as glanced at his drawings. "Something I can help you with?"

"No no, just... Came to talk." Stoick's eyes looked haunted, his expression grim, and for a moment Hiccup thought maybe he was about to be punished. "Where have you and the other children been for the past few days? Have you been around the east side of the island?"

"What?" Hiccup blinked. "Uh, n-no, we've mostly been on the north side. Practicing aerial maneuvers and stuff like that. Why? Did something happen?"

Shaking his head, the chief took a seat on Hiccup's small bed, which protested under the weight, and explained, "There was a sighting of an unidentified ship anchored out of the harbor earlier today. It appeared to be manned by a small, armed crew, and they were obviously trying to avoid detection. I fear they may have been spying on you and your dragons."

Dread pooled in the pit of Hiccup's stomach. Someone had been spying on their island? Were they planning to attack Berk? Did they plan on hunting and killing the dragons?

Had they seen Jack?

"I want you to stay in the village for the next few days," Stoick continued, derailing Hiccup's train of thought. "I've already talked to the other parents; your friends should be getting the same message right about now."

"What!?"

Hiccup leaped up from his seat, upsetting the wooden chair. The noisy clatter it made as it hit the ground woke Toothless, whose head shot up, head-fins alert and eyes wide until he realized the only people in the room besides himself were his rider and his rider's father. With an annoyed huff, the dragon settled his head back down, curling his tail around his body and tucking his wing over his head. Hiccup hardly noticed.

"But Dad, w-we-!"

"No buts, Hiccup. We don't know who those people are, and not all of the other viking tribes are open to the idea of peace with the dragons. I'm doing what I can, getting word around as diplomatically as possible, but there are those who will see your trained dragons as a sign of aggression. They'll think we're training dragons to take their lands and retaliate."

"But we're not!" Hiccup protested, much to his father's exasperation.

"I know that Hiccup, but they don't, not yet. Just give it time, son. For the next few days, at least, you're grounded. As in... staying on the ground. And in the village. You and Toothless both."

Hiccup resisted the urge to give voice to the 'no duh' floating in the air; Stoick knew Toothless was unable – and unwilling – to fly without Hiccup.

"It's only for a few days," the chief reiterated. "You'll survive. It's for your own good."

"Yeah, I know," Hiccup groaned. He knew it was useless for him to tell his father that the best thing for him was to be on Toothless's back, in the air. Stoick had no idea what it felt like to be bonded to a dragon and no idea what he was depriving his son of. There were no words to make him understand.

Standing, the viking chief narrowly avoided smacking his head on the wooden rafters yet again. Carefully, lest he knock over the furniture as he had done many times in the past, Stoick made his way to the stairs, pausing only to say 'goodnight' before slipping out of his son's room.

Hiccup only groaned before blowing out his candle, leaving his room lit only by the star- and moonlight outside. Shuffling in the dark, Hiccup made his way over to his bed, flopping down on it without bothering to remove his boot or his prosthetic. Casting his gaze out the tiny window, Hiccup thought to Jack, alone in the dark and the cold with strange, armed men prowling the waters around their island.

No doubt Jack could protect himself from normal, human warriors. At the very least he could fly off to safety. The knowledge did nothing to reassure Hiccup, however. He supposed he could just sneak off in the morning. His dad would be angry, but hey, he should know better by now than to expect Hiccup to do as he was told . Mind made up, Hiccup rolled over onto his side, where he lay for over an hour before falling into a fitful sleep.

Hiccup woke to the sound of screams.

He jolted awake, knocking his covers aside as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Already Toothless was up, head-fins pressed flat against his head as he snarled at Hiccup's open window. Outside Hiccup could see the bright orange glow of flames and smell smoke, and the clashing of metal against metal rang in the air.

"Hiccup!" a familiar voice called from downstairs. "Hiccup, where are ye!?"

"Right here, Gobber!" Hiccup knelt by his bed, fingers scrabbling against the dusty wood madly until they brushed leather and drawing Toothless's saddle out in a hurry.

Gobber's peg-leg clacked against the floorboards as he bounded up the stairs, arriving just as Hiccup was strapping the last of the belts around his partner's chest. Soot and grime coated the blacksmith's face, sweat staining his clothes and blood smeared across his club-like false hand.

"Thank the gods yer all right," Gobber cried through heavy pants. "The island's under attack. It's Outcasts!"

"Outcasts?" Hiccup parroted, fingers tightening around Toothless's saddle. Most Hooligan youths had at least heard of the Outcasts; a patchwork viking clan made up of those who had been rejected by their own tribes either for bringing shame upon them or for committing some crime not heinous enough to warrant execution but heinous enough that they were shunned by their fellow tribesmen. Wild rumors were spread about the Outcast tribe; that they lived in caves, that they were cannibals, that they worshiped Loki to the exclusion of the other gods.

Hiccup had half-believed that they were only a story spread by adults to keep children in line - 'Be good, or you'll end up exiled and have to join the Outcasts' - not an actual tribe of bloodthirsty conquerors.

"Aye," Gobber confirmed with a solemn sigh. "They sprung a sneak attack, set some 'ouses on fire and burned down the armory. We managed to recover some o' the weapons, but no' enough ta mount a proper defense. We need you an' your dragons ou' there."

Eyes narrowing into a firm expression, Hiccup nodded. He had already been prepared to do that anyway.

"C'mon Toothless," Hiccup whispered, stroking his friend's head. "We've got a village to save."

Toothless replied with a fierce roar; one that, Hiccup was sure, shook all of the Barbaric Archipelago.

Jack wandered the forests of Berk at night. While Baby Tooth slept soundly, nestled in his hood, he raced through the trees, frosting over leaves and branches as he passed, skated over the rivers and ponds located inland, and played with some of Berk's non-human residents who also called the wilderness their home.

His late night exploration was interrupted by the sound of screams.

Perched on the branch of a tree, he spun towards the village and found the sky above it clouded with not just smoke, but hundreds of dragons, their wings filling the air with a low drone as they cried out variations of ((fear)) and ((threat)) and ((predators!))

Jack knew, from his previous conversations with Berk's trained dragons, that there was only one creature a dragon referred to as a predator.

A gust of wind carried him towards the village. Even at a great distance he could hear the roar of flames and feel the heat. Smoke and ash burned his eyes as he came to stand in a tree at the edge of the forest, firelight dancing in his horrified eyes as he took in the sight of the burning village.

((What's happening?))

The noise or the heat or Jack's emotions stirred Baby Tooth from her sleep. Already she was alert, climbing to Jack's shoulder and giving a squeak of horror at the pillars of red and orange.

"Berk's under attack," Jack said. "I'm going to see what I can do. You don't have to come."

Even before she said anything, Jack knew what her answer would be.

((I'm not letting you go alone.))

He'd feel better knowing she was safe, but he smiled nonetheless.

Bolstered by his other half, Jack aimed his staff for the sky. A bolt of silvery-blue magic shot into the air, sending a pulse through the blackened clouds. They began to whip and whirl around themselves and around the village. Then white vapors began to rain down, small at first, then heavier, wetter. Jack leaped into the air and sped towards the village, hoping that he wasn't too late to help.

Smoke and fire choked the air, weighing it down and turning the ground into a soggy mess as the snow melted and soaked the earth. Men were roaring above the cackling flames, gnashing their teeth as swords and hammers and axes clanged against one another. The snow began to fall and rapidly became sleet, pelting the flames but also the villagers below.

Midst all the chaos, one little girl was looking for her Lamby.

The little girl sniffed, tugging at one dark ponytail as she slunk about the battlefield, overlooked by the hulking viking warriors as they clashed with one another. She remembered two large, spike-clad men bashing in their door, her mother launching herself at them, war-hammer in hand, screaming at her daughter to run. She remembered grabbing her beloved toy and clamoring out the window...

Somewhere between her house on the docks and the Great Hall where the noncombatants – namely, the very old and the very young – were being gathered for refuge, she had lost track of her protector, leaving her very alone and very small and very scared.

Bucket – so named for the bucket he wore atop his head in place of a helmet – roared past her, no less ferocious in battle now than he had been before receiving the injury that had addled his senses. Wielding an axe in one hand and using his iron hook-prosthetic offhand he fought off three of the invading vikings himself, sending them sprawling into the mud and slush, injured and unconscious.

"Bucket!" the little girl called, big blue eyes welling up with tears. The moment his eyes landed on her the battle-hardened expression fell from Bucket's face. He raced to the little girl's side, dropping his axe to the ground and placing a consoling hand on her head. "I-I- M-mommy's fighting the bad men a-a-and it's cold and i-it's wet and I-I lost m-my L-l-lamby!" she wailed, voice devolving into choked sobs as fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

"There there," Bucket cooed, scooping the girl up in his now free hand. He rose, peering down the twisted road that ran through the stilted houses, searching for some trace of the little girl's stuffed animal. "We'll go find your Lamby, then it's off to the Great Hall."

The little girl wrapped her arms around Bucket's neck, burying her face in his long, straight beard as she attempted to quell her sobbing. She couldn't hear a word he said. The roaring flames all but drowned out his gentle voice. But she felt safe in his arms and understood the intent behind his kind touch. The viking could feel rather than see her nod and he took off down the road in the direction he knew her home to lie in.

Unfortunately the sight of an unarmed Hooligan carrying a defenseless child attracted the attention of many of the ruthless Outcasts. Bucket found himself swarmed, forced to fight off his attackers with his hook-hand rather than a proper weapon while the little girl's hold on his neck grew tighter and tighter to the point of nearly cutting off his air. As the village burned the air turned cold, and icy rain fell down on them, each droplet like a needle piercing his skin. Even so, Bucket forced himself to keep going, ripping his opponents' weapons from their hands with his hook and bashing their faces with his hard bucket. Instincts taking over, he kept his back to the row of houses so as not to allow himself to be flanked, but soon found himself pinned by Outcasts on all sides with not a friendly face to be seen.

"There's nowhere ta run, 'alf-wit," one Outcast roared over the din of clashing steel and fire, grin full of crooked yellow teeth. "Jes give us the kid an' mebbe we'll let ya keep wot's left o' yer 'ead."

Bucket had no idea what they wanted the child for, but he had no intention of handing her over. Tightening his grip on the girl, Bucket spread his feet apart, ready to barrel into the Outcasts in a last-ditch effort to break free of them. The air grew bitingly cold, in spite of the roaring flames. His lips had just parted to release a battle-cry when...

SPLAT!

The goon with the large mustache at the front of the mob winced as a perfectly shaped sphere of ice and snow exploded across the back of his helmet. Bucket and the other Outcasts blinked, astonished, and the little girl looked up, still sniffling but curious at the pause in violence. Slowly the Outcasts turned, the mob leader glaring furiously at the slip of a boy who had pegged him with the snowball.

Jack's heart hammered against his rib cage; he’d meant only to distract the invaders long enough for the bucket-wearing goofball to escape with the kid. It hadn’t, even for a moment, occurred to him that the adults in this place – this time, he corrected himself – would be able to see him as easily as the teenage riders. He wasn't prepared to suddenly have eyes on him, ready to kill.

Still, he’d gotten in more than enough fights in three hundred years to know how to handle himself. The wind fell still at his request while the sleet continued to fall, pelting the flames. Already they had begun to wane.

"Why don’t you goons pick on someone your own size?" Jack taunted. If they could see him, that just made his task easier.

Incredulity colored the Outcasts' faces as they stared at the small, skinny boy – armed with nothing more than a stick! – who dared to challenge the four of them.

"You three, take the hostages," the mob leader snarled, keeping his eyes pinned on Jack. "I've got this runt."

Before they even had a chance to follow their orders, Jack sprung forward. Startled, the mob leader swung his broadsword, but Jack nimbly leaped over the sweeping blade, toes ghosting over the viking's horned helmet as he bounded overhead and landed gracefully between the Outcasts and Bucket.

Throwing a glance over his shoulder, Jack winked at the little girl in Bucket's arms. She stared back at him curiously, droplets clinging to the corners of her eyes.

With a murderous snarl the mob leader once again launched himself at Jack, only to have the spirit slide out of reach of his blade. He continued to swing the blade wildly, becoming more and more enraged as Jack weaved fluidly around his clumsy swings. To add insult to injury, Jack laughed all the while. Like this was nothing more than a game.

The other three Outcasts joined in, forgetting Bucket and the girl as they all clamored to take down the agile youth currently making a fool of one of their own.

One man reared up behind Jack, swinging an axe over his head as Jack twirled out of the way, caught the man's ankle with the crook of his staff, and yanked his foot out from under him. As the viking stumbled forward Jack spun out of the way of a hammer swing from a second Outcast, leaping overhead and landing precariously atop the helmet of the third. The Outcast, unable to feel Jack's virtually nonexistent weight, spun his head this way and that as he searched for his opponent, only to freeze when he saw his hammer-wielding comrade rise, staring at him intently and raising his weapon aggressively.

"Don't. Move," the war-hammer-wielding Outcast said as he raised the weapon.

"Wait!"

He didn't wait. Jack back flipped off of the helmet just as the Outcast swung the hammer down atop his comrade's head. Bucket and the little girl winced in unison before they burst out laughing.

"Screw this!" the fourth Outcast cried as he threw down his sword. "Ah'm out!"

"Oi! Where are you going!?" the mob leader screamed as his three companions fled. "Get back here you cowards!"

The sound of someone clearing their throat caught his attention. Slowly he turned, finding himself face-to-face with Bucket who, with the threat severely diminished, had set the young girl on her feet and grabbed up the Outcast's discarded sword. Jack stood next to him, still wearing that infuriating smirk and holding the child's hand.

Considering his options, the Outcast turned to flee himself, only to suddenly loose his footing as a patch of ice blossomed underneath his feet. His head struck the ice with a loud crack and he went still, losing consciousness instantly.

"Anyone hurt?" Jack asked as he turned towards the little girl and her helmet-wearing protector, struggling to make himself heard over the flames. His soaked hoodie clung to his thin frame, and water dripped from the ends of the girl's ponytails. She smiled shyly at him, pushing her wet bangs from her forehead.

Bucket studied Jack's face, digging through his mind for a name and coming up short. "Nnnn… No injuries here… um… yooooou… I want to say Varg?"

Jack leaned forward and raised his voice so that the viking could hear him as he said, "We haven't met."

"Oh thank gods." Bucket released a large sigh of relief. "My name's Bucket. I have a bucket."

"Yeah... I can see that." Jack reminded himself to refrain from holding out his hand for a handshake. "Name's Jack Frost."

The small hand clutching his gave a slight tug. Jack turned to find the little girl, head bowed but eyes turned up towards him. She said something, but her voice was so quiet and the flames so loud he couldn't hear. So he knelt, still holding her hand. His bare feet sank into the brown slush.

"What was that kiddo? I didn't catch that."

She hesitated, and then when she raised her voice it cracked a little.

"I said… I like your name."

"Thanks, I always liked it. What about you? What's your name?"

The child shuffled her feet, the fingers clutching Jack's hand tightened. When she finally replied, it was so softly that the roaring fire all but drowned it out.

"...Torborg."

"It's nice to meet you, Torborg," Jack said, giving her hand a friendly squeeze. "So what are you doing out here? It's too dangerous right now for little girls to be wandering around."

At this he threw a glance at Bucket out of the corner of his eye, the addled viking being the closest thing to a responsible adult in the vicinity. Bucket's eyes fell to his feet as he scratched the back of his bucket with his iron hook.

"We were trying to find my Lamby," Torborg answered. "Mommy told me to run, and I did and I dropped my Lamby."

Jack blinked, trying to determine whether 'Lamby' was a toy or an actual lamb.

"Well, tell ya what," he said, scooping the little girl up and offering her a kindly smile, "Why don't we get you somewhere safe first, and then I'll go and rescue Lamby for you."

Torborg replied with a shy smile and a nod.

"All right then." Turning to Bucket, Jack said, "You lead the way, big guy. The princess is counting on us."

Alvin the Treacherous was not a patient man.

Oh, he understood the importance of it, of waiting for the perfect moment to strike. That did nothing to quell the itch to leap into the fray alongside his men and spill blood. That was why he urged his boats to take off from Outcast island two days early, despite Savage's warning about them not being ready.

The plan – conceived in the heat of the moment though it was – had gone well. The armory was now in ruins and the Hooligan warriors were being fought to a standstill. With the soldiers distracted, Alvin had ordered Savage to take a small company of men to round up as many hostages as they could before they had a chance retreat to the safety of the Great Hall, for one purpose and one purpose only.

To take the Dragon Conqueror.

The Outcast chieftain glowered when his eyes landed on Stoick the Vast. The Hooligan chief was fighting barehanded, opting to let his men have their pick of the remaining usable weapons. Even unarmed Stoick was doing well for himself, grappling with the Outcasts as they came, wrenching their swords and axes and maces from their hands and sending them scrambling like newborns.

Alvin smirked.

Not for long though.

With a terrifying and some might say inhuman roar Alvin dropped his own weapon and threw himself at Stoick. The charge caught Berk's chief by surprise and Alvin managed to pin Stoick on his back. The two of them grappled, tumbling over one another in the mud and slush and throwing punches and kicks like they had as boys, though in those days the fighting would have stopped after the first broken nose. As they fought the temperature plummeted. The smoke-blackened clouds began to swirl about and then the wind fell completely still as a torrent of sleet poured over the burning village.

Neither viking chief noticed in their brawl.

"Where is the Dragon Conqueror?" Alvin growled, sending flecks of spittle and blood flying into Stoick's face.

Stoick spat a glob of blood back onto his.

Enraged, Alvin cocked his fist back, fully prepared to plow it into the other chief's face repeatedly until he had entirely smashed his skull in. He froze, however, fist still poised to strike, as he heard a shrill whistling cut the air. The whistling crescendoed until it became a deafening scream.

Then Alvin's men were the ones screaming.

"NIGHTFURY!"

"TAKE COVER!"

The warning came too late. A split second later there was a flash of blinding light and Stoick and Alvin both were sent flying as a ball of plasma exploded in the earth right next to them, a deafening crack following seconds later. Alvin shook his head to try to clear the ringing noise in his ears and the smoke and ash and fog clouding his eyes. A large, winged shadow emerged from the haze in between Alvin and Stoick, its wide, green eyes narrowed into feline slits and sharp teeth bared in a menacing snarl.

Though he had never seen one before, Alvin knew right away what species the streamlined, jet-black dragon belonged to. Even more astonishing than the nightfury, however, was the lad riding atop its back.

"Dad, are you all right?"

Alvin watched as Stoick's little embarrassment offered his father a hand, pulling the stunned viking chief to his feet without dismounting the dragon. A smirk stretched the Outcast's lips at the sight.

He had found who he was looking for.

"The Dragon Conqueror," he growled, drawing the fish bone's astonished gaze.

Now all he needed were the hostages and-

"Alvin!"

Ah, perfect! Alvin's smirk became an outright sneer as three of his men – those whom he’d sent with Savage to gather hostages in the first place – came racing from behind a stack of charred buildings. He hardly felt the stinging sleet as it came down harder. The triumph he felt was enough to warm his blood.

"Your timing couldn't ‘ave been better, Dragon Conqueror," the Outcast chief jeered. "You'll be coming with us now."

"Er, Alvin..." The poor Outcast's meek whisper went unheard or ignored.

"Um, yeah, that's not going to happen," Hiccup replied with a roll of his eyes. Toothless asserted his rider's statement with a roar, the sound of which sent a collective wince through Alvin's followers.

"Oh, you think so do ya?" Alvin's features appeared all the more menacing for the blood streaked across his face. "Even if it meant killing innocent children?"

Hiccup's eyes widened in horror as his father bellowed, "You coward! You'd take children!?"

"I take what I want, Stoick, you know that!" the Outcast gloated. "So what's it gonna be, Hiccup? You or the hostages?"

"I..." Hiccup trailed off, green eyes flitting across Alvin's band of Outcasts. "Where are the hostages?"

The smug expression on Alvin's face faltered. Only now did he take a good look at his men, their weapons gone and their faces twisted with panic. One had a rather large dent in his helmet that surely must have bit into his skull.

"...Where are the hostages?" he growled, voice cutting like shards of ice.

At first, he was met with silence. Then there was some scrambling among the three, and the man with the dented helmet was unceremoniously shoved forward by his comrades.

"W-we tried ta tell ya, Alvin," he pleaded, bowing his head apologetically. "Th-there wos this kid wit white 'air appeared from nowhere! W-we couldn' nae touch 'im an' we lost Savage-"

The Outcast's plea was interrupted by the sharp crack of Alvin's fist plowing into his face.

"IDIOTS!" he howled. "Useless! You had one bloody job!"

"Your plan is failing, Alvin." Stoick bent and scooped up a discarded mud-spattered blade from the ground. "You'll not have my son."

Glowering at the Hooligan chief, Alvin hissed, "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Stoick."

He would have the Dragon Conqueror, if not through negotiation then through brute force.

A feral cry tore loose from Alvin's throat as he threw himself at Hiccup, intending to rip the young viking from the dragon's saddle. The dragon was faster, releasing a bolt of flame into the ground at his feet that sent him flying along with a geyser of mud.

"No more fire!" Stoick screamed over the din. "There won't be a village left to save if this fire spreads further!"

The Outcasts, meanwhile, were running to their dazed chief's side, grabbing his shoulders and hoisting him to his feet even as he growled at them and shoved them away.

"Chief!" one shouted above the roar of flames, "We have to get out of here! One of our scouts said they've got more riders!"

Alvin continued to glare at Stoick and Hiccup venomously through the sleet. The nightfury met his gaze with steely green eyes, hissing and spitting and flicking its tail back and forth in agitation as its claws kneaded the mud. Finally he pulled, back, barking orders at his men to sound the retreat for the time being.

The next time he came, Alvin promised himself, he would have a plan to properly deal with the dragon riders.

"NIGHTFURY!"

"TAKE COVER!"

Ice blue eyes shot skyward as a screaming black blur streaked through the air, followed seconds later by an explosion. Even drenched in the frigid rain of his own making, the intense heat slowly becoming unbearable for the ice spirit. Still, the sight of the fearless nightfury and his rider cutting through the air along with Baby Tooth's quiet company reassured him. He in turn squeezed Torborg's hand, comforting the small child even as he and Bucket dodged marauders and flames alike. Mud caked his feet and his shins and for the first time in over a century Jack's clothing was bare of frost.

His staff, however, remained cool in his grip, the ice crystals clinging tenaciously to its surface even in the intense heat.

"Jack... Jack... Jack!"

Jack paused in his movements, turning to face Torborg as she fought to make herself heard. She shivered, her clothes and hair heavy with rainwater and shoes and dress splattered with mud. The smoke had burned at her eyes, making them red and puffy.

"I'm scared."

She spoke softly now, but Jack read the movement of her lips and placed his hand on her shoulder, offering her another reassuring squeeze. "I know, I know, but everything's going to be all right. I promise."

"We won't let anything happen to you."

Throwing a surprised glance over his shoulder, Jack found Bucket standing over him, three bloodied Outcasts lying face down in the muck nearby. A chill worked its way down his spine, and he was proud of how well he managed to suppress it.

"You see?" Jack said, turning his eyes back to Torborg and offering her a gentle smile. "You have your brave knights to protect you. You're going to be alright."

Sniffling, Torborg nodded.

"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we have a little fun?" He knelt, heedless of the icy muck that soaked through his pant leg. "Can you do me a favor and close your eyes?"

Torborg obeyed, eyes slipping closed. Jack double-checked to make sure her eyes were really closed, and then turned to Bucket.

"You too, big guy."

Bucket snapped his eyes shut without hesitation.

"Alright princess, now, can you tell me what animal you like best?"

"Hmmmm... Dragons."

Nodding, Jack held his hands together as though he were sculpting a snowball. A tiny spark of ice magic formed in between his palms, the light stretching and whirling and spinning in the air like a firefly. Slowly it began to take shape, wings forming from the droplets clinging to his fingers, a tail whipping through the air. A broad, flat head popped out from the body as did four thick paws.

"Okay," Jack whispered, holding the snow nightfury in the palm of his hands. "Open your eyes."

Torborg did, and gasped in surprise. The tiny nightfury stared up at her, its crystalline body sparkling in the light from the flames. Then it moved. It chirped, the sound several octaves higher than Toothless's voice, and bounced up and down on the palm of Jack’s hand like Toothless ready for play, making Torborg giggle.

"Is it a newt?" Bucket asked.

"He's adorable!" Torborg squealed, ignoring Bucket and cupping her hands together. The snow nightfury hopped from Jack's hands to hers, circling a bit as Toothless did whenever he settled down for a nap. "How did you do that?"

"Magic," Jack replied. "Now, give 'im a throw."

She did, tossing the snow-phantom gently. Immediately its wings snapped open and it took to the air. Torborg giggled and Bucket watched, astounded, as Jack's snow-dragon flew in wide loops around the three of them, faster and faster until it was hardly perceivable. Suddenly it shot up into the sky and exploded, glistening flakes of snow and magic mixing into the rain that fell on them.

"That was amazing!" Torborg shrieked in delight, throwing her arms into the air as she hopped up and down in place. She hardly seemed to notice the flames anymore, nor that the soot stuck to her skin was running down her neck in black-brown rivulets as the cold sleet pelted her face, caught up in this moment of joy as she was. Seeing her joy brought a relieved smile to Jack's face. He opened his mouth to suggest they start moving again, when-

"Retreat!"

Torborg froze, whirling around as two spike-clad Outcasts came running around a row of buildings, boots pounding the mud as they all clamored for the docks. Jack and Bucket were instantly between her and the invaders, but the fleeing Outcasts hardly paid them any mind.

"Retreat! They've got dragons!"

Before he could quite process what h’d heard, Jack caught a glimpse of a bird-like shadow in the smog.

Fwit fwit fwit!

One of the Outcasts stumbled over himself as a bright yellow quill flew over his head, scrambling in the mud and screaming for his comrade to wait as he ran after him. Bucket and Torborg stared after them, eyes wide, but Jack's gaze was focused elsewhere.

"Astrid!" he shouted, raising his staff to catch the attention of the deadly nadder rider in the sky. "Astrid! Down here!"

Patting Stormfly's neck, Astrid steered them downwards, landing gracefully in front of Jack and Bucket. Even as she touched down in a puddle, Stormfly's talons barely made a ripple.

"Jack!" Astrid cried as she dismounted Stormfly, "What are you doing here?"

"Helping," he replied, gesturing to Torborg who, upon Astrid's arrival, had tucked herself behind Jack, clutching the back of his tunic in both of her tiny fists and peeking at the dragon rider from behind him.

((Good-you-Icicle-safe-good-hatchling-she-small-scared-she-protect-me-protect-hatchling.))

Nodding to Stormfly, Jack slowly reached behind him, gently disentangling Torborg from his hoodie.

"Hey, Torborg," he started in a soothing voice. "You're gonna go with Stormfly and Astrid now, all right? They're going to take you somewhere safe."

"Uh..." Astrid wondered when she had agreed to this, though she knew she couldn’t leave a child in the middle of the village in this state.

"No," Torborg whispered, clutching Jack's fingers as he tried to pry her from his hoodie. "No, I don't wanna."

"Princess... Hey, Bucket, a hand here?"

Astrid watched as Bucket knelt behind Torborg. Normally children loved the big oaf, coming to him for silly things he was unable to fix for no reason other than because they liked him, but when he hooked his real arm around her waist and lifted her up she began to scream, still clutching Jack's fingers.

"NOOOOOO!" She wailed, causing Stormfly to flinch. "I DON'T WANNA GO! I WANNA STAY WITH JACK! LET ME STAY WITH JACK!"

"Hey, kid, you need to calm down," Astrid growled, graceless with children. She stepped forward, placing her hands on the child's and prying them loose. It was relatively easy, rain rendering her grip slippery, and soon Bucket was placing the squirming child in Astrid's arms. "Would you just... HOLD STILL!"

Torborg would not hold still. She cried, beating against Astrid's chest with her hands and kicking her with bare feet. Finally, Jack intervened.

"Hey, hey," he whispered gently, taking Torborg from Astrid's clumsy grip in exchange for his staff. Immediately she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest. "Tory, I want to stay with you too, but I need you to go with Astrid for a little while, okay?"

Astrid watched, amazed, as the little hellion calmed immediately in Jack's hold. The vættr stroked her hair, speaking in hushed tones and bouncing a little as he held her.

"She's going to take you somewhere safe."

"It's safe with you." Torborg refused to lift her face, her voice severely muffled by the blue tunic. "You're my guardian."

"That's why I have to go and do some dangerous things right now," Jack replied. "I still need to rescue your Lamby, remember? I promise, I'll come back and play with you once I'm done."

Slowly Torborg peeled her face from Jack's chest. Staring up at him with big, tear-filled eyes, she said, "Promise you'll come back?"

"I swear on the Moon," Jack replied.

Torborg said nothing after that. Gently, Jack handed the small girl back to Astrid, she handing over his staff as he did. Stormfly lowered herself enough for Astrid to place the child on her back, and though Torborg still seemed to be heartbroken by the prospect of leaving Jack, her eyes lit up at the sight of the dragon.

"I'll come back and try to find you again after I drop her off at the Great Hall!" Astrid promised as she settled the child onto Stormfly's saddle. "Try not to get yourself killed in the meantime, all right?"

"Please," Jack teased as he flexed one skinny arm. "Like those goons stand a chance against all this!"

Astrid responded with a roll of her eyes and a slight smirk, whereas Torborg had burst out into another fit of giggles. Pulling herself up fluidly, Astrid settled on the saddle behind Torborg, strapping herself into the harness and wrapping her arms tightly around the little girl's waist.

((Me-fly-go-go-up-safe-Astrid-hatchling-me-safe,)) Stormfly crooned as she opened her wings. ((Worry-Icicle-cautious-worry-Icicle-prey-danger-go-safe.))

Jack had no chance to respond before Astrid spurred her into the air, disappearing with Torborg into the smog-choked sky. For several moments after they had vanished, Jack found himself staring up at the blackened clouds. Was the Man in the Moon watching any of this, he wondered, and if so what did he think about all of this? Did he recognize one of his creations down here, running around trying to help in whatever way he could?

'Probably not.'

"All right big guy," Jack said as he finally tore his gaze away from the sky. "It looks like the two of us are on a quest for the princess now."

"No, you should run to the Great Hall too," Bucket insisted. "It's not safe for you to be fighting grownups."

Jack raised a brow, putting one hand on his hip.

"I think I handled myself fine earlier," he said. "And I didn't come here just to hide."

"But-"

"I'm not going to the Great Hall," he repeated. "C'mon, we shouldn't be standing around like this."

Jack didn't give Bucket a chance to argue further before he took off. Their feet kicked up ice-cold mud as they ran through the village towards the docks, eyes peeled for Torborg's stuffed lamb. With the fires reduced to cinders clinging to just a few of the buildings, Jack nudged the heavy sleet to a flurry of powdery snow. Shallow puddles dotted the ground with transparent islands of ice floating in them, and the winding road that twisted through the village had been transformed into a shallow, muddy creek. Jack didn’t mind so much, being used to feeling of dirt and ice and mud against his bare feet and even finding the freezing liquid to be soothing against his overheated skin, but he felt a bit sorry for Bucket whose fur-lined boots had been soaked through and whose feet surely must have been numb by now. Still, the big man didn’t moan or complain, and seemed to be just as invested in finding Torborg's toy as Jack himself was.

The pair found no trace of Lamby as they weaved between blackened skeletons of homes, stepping over dead Outcasts and racing between frantic Hooligans in their search. Coughing, swearing, spitting, and groaning chorused all around them, and as Jack took in the sight of two burly warriors carrying a third man – face badly bruised and furs stained with blood – up the hill towards the Great Hall, he found his stomach churning uncomfortably.

"Bucket," he started softly, eyes still locked on the presumably dead man being carried up the slushy road, "I think we should help these people out."

It wasn't hard to get Bucket to change directions. With a nod he ran to the nearest row of houses, calling out for survivors. Jack figured it would be best to follow suit, flitting from house to house. He peeked in windows and carefully pulled open doors lest the unstable structures come down on him or anyone who might be inside. Around him the battle had all but stopped and efforts shifted to rescue as the vikings called out for anyone who might have been trapped. Baby Tooth shivered in his hood, the rapidly changing temperature affecting her more adversely than it did her larger half.

"Hey! Is there anybody in here?"

Placing his hand on the iron knob, Jack had just been about to turn when he heard a loud wrenching sound. He ducked back instinctively as the dragon-shaped carving on the roof suddenly collapsed where he had been standing, its once vibrantly colored paint burned away and its base turned to ash. Clouds of ash flew into his face and eyes and Jack pulled the collar of his hoodie over his nose and mouth as he flew into a violent coughing fit. Struggling to get his breathing under control, Jack once again reached for the door, shoving it open with more force than he should have considering the state of the building.

"Hello?"

There was no answer. Pale blue eyes swept across the room furtively and found nothing. Just as Jack turned to leave, however, Baby Tooth spoke up.

((There's someone in here,)) she chirped. ((Lateral incisor, five years old. Lost when chin struck a table.))

Jack stepped slowly into the house, still half-afraid it might cave in on top of him. Still, he wouldn’t allow himself to leave a child behind. Tables and furniture were upturned and thrown against the walls, most of which were completely blackened and eaten by the fire, the charred edges trimmed with the red-orange glow of dying flames. Broken bits of pottery and glass were strewn across the floor, clinking almost musically as Jack padded gingerly over them. Frost crawled across his skin, forming a thick layer over the soles of his feet as he stepped on the shards.

The frost didn’t stop at his skin. Cold radiated from his body, filling the inside of the crumbling building with an eerie white mist that sapped the heat from the air and caused the fragile wood to groan ominously. The frost crawled across the structure, bolstered by magic that made it hard as steel. Lingering embers died and Baby Tooth, sensing that the oppressive heat had been temporarily abated, abandoned the relative safety of Jack's hood in favor of lending him her aid. Her fragile wings lifted her into the air and she hacked a bit as she breathed in the ash floating inside the building.

"Can you feel where the tooth is?" Jack asked, eager to rescue the injured child and escape quickly for Baby Tooth's sake as well as for the child's.

((Twenty-two degrees north-east,)) she replied, pointing Jack in the exact direction. ((Thirteen feet ahead.))

Following Baby Tooth's instructions lead Jack to a small, enclosed area that he supposed must have served as a kitchen of sorts, though the only indication he had was a large cauldron lying next to a wide fireplace, its gooey green contents spilled across the floor, and a single frying pan hanging from a nail in the wall. Aside from that he saw several upturned iron kettles and a wooden crate half-filled with blackened, warped shapes that might have once been cabbages, and a single large basket. Baby Tooth zipped through the air ahead of him, landing atop the basket and nodding eagerly.

"Hey, are you in there?" Jack spoke gently, not wanting to startle the child if they were hiding. "It's all right, we're not going to hurt you."

There was no answer. Feeling his heart pounding nearly out of his chest, Jack took a careful step towards the barrel. Baby Tooth had told him she sensed a tooth, but that was the limit to her ability; she had no way to sense the state of the child it was connected to. The frost-fairy took to the air as Jack set his staff against the nearest wall.

"I'm going to lift up the basket now so don't... Don't freak out."

Placing his hands on either side of the basket, Jack slowly began to lift it from the floor...

"OOMPH!"

Baby Tooth squeaked in surprise and outrage when a tiny blur flew at Jack from underneath the basket, knocking him off of his feet before settling on his chest. In the dim light Jack caught the glint of metal and Baby Tooth shrieked as she realized that a dagger was being raised over Jack's head. Before the dagger could come down, however, Jack caught its owner's hand in a firm, yet gentle hold. The owner squirmed and grunted but couldn’t pull free.

"Calm down!" he hissed to the five-year-old boy currently sitting on his chest. "I'm not a bad guy."

The thrashing stopped, scrunched together eyelids finally parting to reveal tear-filled brown eyes. The child – dressed in a thin grey tunic with a single small tooth dangling from a twine rope around his neck and an overlarge pair of fur boots – slowly lowered the dagger clasped in his fists, Jack's hands loosing their hold as the boy calmed.

"My name is Jack." The spirit sat up slowly, so as not to startle the boy again. "What's your name? Where are your parents?"

The boy said nothing for a long while, simply staring at Jack solemnly while silent tears trailed down his sweat-slicked cheeks. As Jack sat up he slowly slid off of the older boy, settling on his knees before him.

"Are you hurt?" Jack coaxed. "Can you talk?"

The child nodded. Then, after furiously scrubbing the tears from his eyes, his lips parted and he said, "Wulfric."

"Do you know where your parents are?"

Wulfric didn’t answer, he just stared. Jack understood.

"I’m sorry," Jack said, placing a gentle hand on the boy’s shoulder before standing. "Don’t worry, we're going to get you somewhere safe."

At first, the boy appeared confused. Then Baby Tooth settled on Jack's shoulder and Wulfric's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"This is Baby Tooth," Jack introduced. "She's the one who found you."

((Don't be afraid, little one,)) Baby Tooth chirped in hummingbird.

Wulfric obviously couldn’t understand her, but he stared at her curiously. He stayed silent up until he saw Jack reaching for his staff, eyes widening as delicate spirals of ice – no different than the ones holding the building up above their heads – branched across the wood starting from his fingers.

"Are you a girl?"

Jack stared at the child blankly.

"What? No." He threw a glare at Baby Tooth, who had burst out into a giggling fit. "No, I'm not."

"You look weird for a boy." Wulfric stared at the staff, now glimmering in the dim light. "And men don't use magic."

"I think I'd make a pretty weird-looking girl too," Jack countered. Then, drudging up what little he knew of the Norse spirits he'd never met, "Besides, Odin uses magic."

"Are you Odin?"

"No."

"So then you're a girl."

"No."

"Well, which is it? It has to be one or the other."

Jack gave Wulfric a dry look. Then, holding his hand palm-out to the five-year-old, he sent a weak blast of ice magic directly at his face. Wulfric yelped and jumped back, unhurt but now sporting a sparkling white beard of snow. While the child stood there, stunned, Jack pointed at his own face and created an identical snow-beard.

"There, do I look like a girl now?"

Wulfric burst out giggling, clutching his sides as the snow broke and flaked off of his face.

Fifteen minutes later, Jack Frost was trudging uphill towards the Great Hall with a soot-covered five-year-old riding on his back, tiny arms wrapped around his neck in a loose hold and legs clinging to Jack's sides. Beside him Bucket lumbered on, two unconscious adults slung over his shoulders, muttering quietly to himself and seeming to hardly notice the presence of the white-haired boy save for when he occasionally paused to ask Jack's name again. Baby Tooth had relocated to the large pocket on the front of his hoodie so as to avoid being squashed between the two boys.

"...How come you do magic?" Wulfric asked after a while. Despite the laugh Jack had managed to draw from him, his good cheer hadn't lasted long and now he just seemed tired. Until that question, Jack had assumed he'd fallen asleep.

"I've just always been able to," Jack answered. "Ever since the Man in the Moon made me."

He kept his voice low, but Bucket hardly seemed to be paying attention. Not that he seemed likely to remember any of this later. Belatedly Jack wondered if he remembered what he ate for breakfast that morning.

"...You're not human, are you? Are you a god?"

"No, I'm not a god," Jack whispered back. "And if yoh-tuns eat people, I'm not one of those either."

"Jötnar," Wulfric corrected quietly, and then after a few moments, "I won't tell."

"Thanks, but you can if you want. I don't care."

It would probably be easier if he didn't. Snotlout may have only been a dim-witted bully, but he was also probably an example of what Jack could expect from the adults if they found out what he was, and as kind as Bucket was, he clearly had some memory issues. Baby Tooth wasn't wrong when she said it was dangerous to reveal themselves to humans. It was just a danger Jack had never had to deal with before. And while he was certain he could defend himself just fine from human warriors, the last thing he wanted to do was use his powers to hurt ordinary people. Not if he didn't have to.

Still, he wasn't about to swear a five-year-old to secrecy.

"Mm-mm." Wulfric squeezed his neck tighter. Then, as though sensing Jack's thoughts, "I don't want you to hafta go away."

Jack cracked a small smile.

"I'd like to be able to stay too," he admitted. "But I only came here to help you guys out."

"Does that mean you're going away?"

"Eventually."

As wonderful as these last few days had been, he wasn't quite ready to give up on the idea of finding a way back to his time.

"Will you come back?"

"Of course! Whenever it snows-" In between for looking for a way home. "-I'll be sure to swing by."

The lights of the Great Hall shone at the top of the hill, a never ending stream of people winding up the steps as the injured were carried to safety. Bucket picked up his pace, Jack matching his stride with surprising ease.

"That's good." A yawn escaped Wulfric's throat, and as it faded he nestled his head on Jack's shoulder. "It snows here a lot."

It wasn’t the cold that had the Outcasts trembling as they began their long voyage back to their island. Alvin was seething, eyes cast towards Berk with a malevolent glow that surely matched the evil gaze of Loki himself. They had with them less than half of the force they had started with, many men having been lost to the quills of the deadly nadder or the jaws of the monstrous nightmare. Those that escaped counted themselves lucky that Stoick was more invested in preserving his village than in killing Outcasts.

Now that they’d escaped Stoick's wrath, however, they had Alvin's to contend with.

"W-well there's always n-next time A-a-alvin," Savage attempted to pacify his chief. Alvin was not pacified.

"We coulda had him," he growled. "The Dragon Conqueror was in arm's reach. I COULD HAVE HAD HIM IF YOU WEREN'T SO BLOODY USELESS!"

Before Savage knew what was happening his feet were dangling in the air and there was a crushing pressure on his windpipe. His hands scrabbled over Alvin's spiked gauntlets, tearing up his palms and leaving streaks of blood on the chief's arms.

"N-nnn-n-aaawwt m-maaaiiii fff-f-ff-a-aa-auult-t-tt," he rasped out, dragging out each word with each slow, forced exhale and each quick, stuttering inhale. Only when his face began to take on a bluish pallor did Alvin drop him, coughing and sputtering, to the deck.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now," Alvin growled, placing the heel of his foot on his second-in-command's back and placing the palm of his hand on the hilt of his axe.

"Th-they have a-a-a s-seiðmaðr," Savage replied through shuddering breaths. The pressure on his back eased only slightly, but still Alvin would not let him up. "I s-s-saw h-him. H-he made ice f-from no-nothing."

"A sorcerer?" Alvin hissed. Finally Alvin took his foot off of Savage's back. He bent, grabbing a fistful of Savage's facial hair and hoisted the protesting Outcast to his feet by it. "You expect me to believe that lie you concocted to save your worthless hide!?"

"N-not l-l-lying, Alvin." Savage's chest heaved, and the skin under his nose was beginning to burn. "He had wh-white hair and frost on his c-clothes."

Alvin dropped Savage's mustache.

White hair, just like the three fools from earlier had said. The conveniently timed rain that doused the fires... Now it made sense. He’d assumed that the Dragon Conqueror had been the boy on the nightfury, but now he saw the truth.

They needed the seiðmaðr.

The Great Hall was nearly full to bursting. On any other occasion this would have annoyed Hiccup to no end, but tonight he was simply glad that there were enough people still breathing in Berk to fill the Great Hall. Granted, many of them were lying on thin mats on the floor, unconscious from either blood loss or smoke inhalation or exhaustion. Those who were still able to move were bustling, tending to the injured, cooking a meager meal from what food supplies survived the fire, and generally trying to recreate an air of stability over the village. This was far from the first time their village had been attacked, albeit the cleanup in the aftermath of the long-ended dragon raids was much easier to deal with; generally, dragons didn’t break into people's homes.

Still, there was an almost cheerful air over the Great Hall that night. They had fought the battle and they had won. The dragons were receiving extra affection for their part in running off the Outcasts, much to the displeasure of one grumbling old hermit in the corner. Toothless hummed in pleasure as a twelve-year-old kid approached him with a steaming bowl of stewed cod, holding the dish out to the nightfury and giving him a delighted giggle as his huge, forked tongue slavered all over the bowl and the boy's hands.

"Aaaw, that's gross," Hiccup muttered as he watched the nightfury saliva drip from the kid's arms.

"Hiccup!"

Head snapping in the direction he had heard his name from, Hiccup found himself facing Astrid who was rapidly approaching him with...

"Astrid, did you know you have a kid attached to you?"

By the way she glowered at him, Hiccup guessed she knew.

"Jack stuck me with her," Astrid explained, attempting halfheartedly to pry the young girl's grasping fingers from the skull-shaped links of her belt. "I was just going to drop her off here and go find Jack, but now the little brat won't leave me alone."

"Jack's here?" Hiccup's question came out as hardly a whisper, but Astrid could hear it just fine. So could Toothless, if the way the dragon was now staring at him was any indication.

"Not as far as I know," Astrid replied, concern touching her voice. "Last I saw he was still out in the village with Bucket. I don't know what he was doing, but it must have been important."

Panic seized Hiccup's chest.

"Astrid, was he doing, you know...?" When Astrid met his panicked gaze with a blank stare he lowered his voice and clarified, "Was he using magic?"

"Not that I saw, but... I think he might have made the sleet that put the fires out. You don’t think he…?"

Sensing his rider's unease, Toothless crooned soothingly, butting Hiccup's side with his head and making a sound in his throat that Hiccup had long since taken to mean his name.

His lips had just parted to answer Astrid when he heard yet another voice calling his name.

"Hiccup!" Fishlegs was calling over the din, thick elbows cutting through a knot of Hooligans as he made his way over to Hiccup and Astrid. In each of his hands, Hiccup noticed, was a nearly full cup of stew. "I'm so glad you're safe! I heard a bunch of people talking, and they all said that Alvin the Treacherous attacked us looking for you!"

"Alvin the Treacherous?" Hiccup parroted before realization dawned on him. "You mean the huge guy with the black beard who looked like he could sit on my dad?"

Fishlegs's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped.

"You saw him!?"

Toothless snorted proudly, sitting up straight as Hiccup scratched the underside of his jaw.

"Toothless and I did, and if we ever do again it will be too soon." Fishlegs had his mouth open, no doubt to ask more questions about the Outcast chief, when Hiccup cut him off. "Hey, where's Meatlug?"

"Oh." Fishlegs raised the bowls in show. "She doesn't like all the crowds and noise, so she's waiting outside. I thought I'd bring her a snack. She's been eating more rocks than fish lately and I thought she could use more balance in her diet and... Astrid... what's that stuck to your belt?"

Astrid had to remind herself not to punch people while they were holding bowls of hot food, even if it was really, really tempting.

Fishlegs hardly seemed to notice, however, getting on one knee so he was eye-level with the nine-year-old.

"Hi there, little girl. My name’s Fishlegs. Who are you?"

"Tory," Torborg replied, clutching Astrid's belt tighter.

"Well that's a pretty name," Fishlegs replied in the same condescendingly sweet tone he had used since noticing her. "What are you doing here? Where are your parents?"

Torborg stared at him for an uncomfortably long time before ducking behind Astrid and burying her face in her studded skirt, much to the shield maiden's exasperation.

Hiccup bit his lip to keep from laughing whereas Toothless was more shameless, flashing a toothless smile and goff goff goffing behind Fishlegs's back as the husky viking stared at the girl, mouth agape. Even Astrid, in spite of her irritation with the shy child's behavior, had to cover her mouth to prevent the laughter bubbling in her throat from bursting out.

"Miss, can we go get Jack now?" Torborg pleaded, tugging at Astrid's belt. "You said you were gonna go get him."

"Yeah, well, you're not helping," Astrid snapped as she tried once again unsuccessfully to remove Tory from her belt. "I said I'd go get him after I dropped you off, not before."

"Oh, you're looking for Jack?" Fishlegs commented offhandedly as he rose to his feet. "He's over there by the serving line, playing with a bunch of kids."

"What!?" Fishlegs and Astrid stared at Hiccup, stunned by his sudden outburst. Torborg, on the other hand, seemed relatively unaffected. She dropped Astrid's belt like a hot brand and sprinted through the crowd, weaving through the adult's knees in her search for Jack. "Fishlegs, how long has he been here?"

"I don't know, maybe ten minutes?" The stew nearly spilled from the bowls as Fishlegs shrugged. "He came in with Bucket a while ago and started asking if anyone knew where Torborg was. I told him that everyone was stopping by the serving line at least once so he went over there to look for her. I don't even know who Torborg is."

Astrid and Hiccup exchanged exasperated looks.

"Tory," Astrid finally said. "Torborg is Tory."

"Oh." Then Fishlegs's eyes widened in realization. "Ooohhhh. Oh. Well, at least they've found each other now, right?"

"Fishlegs, have you told anybody about Jack?" Hiccup asked, desperation creeping into his voice.

"No, of course not," Fishlegs blinked, suddenly feeling ill at ease. "Hiccup, is something wrong?"

With a relieved sigh, Hiccup glanced around, making sure that nobody was in eavesdropping distance, before gesturing for Astrid and Fishlegs to huddle around him. They did, the steam from Fishlegs's stew flushing their faces.

"I don't think Jack knows he should keep his powers a secret,” Hiccup whispered. “He hasn’t exactly been shy about using them around us. I’m worried about what will happen if he uses them around any of the adults.”

Fishlegs’s eyes widened in realization.

“Oh! I hadn’t thought of that!” he whisper-exclaimed, eyes darting around. “But… maybe it won’t be so bad? Maybe the adults will… Build a shrine to him? Or something?”

“Or maybe they’ll break out the swords and axes,” Astrid whispered back. “They didn’t exactly take Hiccup training Toothless well the first time he tried to tell everybody.”

Hiccup nodded, relieved that he and Astrid were on the same page.

“I’m gonna go find him,” he said, already moving to leave. “Thanks Fishlegs.”

“Ye- Uh… Okay, you’re not waiting for me to finish. Bye.”

"-somewhere in his heart an ancient memory stirred of a sleeping baby, and a distant lullaby. But the memory dissolved almost as soon as it appeared, leaving him feeling deeply and unexpectedly sad.

"Something dark flashed past the boy and into the children's room. Suddenly, two Fearlings hovered and twisted in midair above the sleeping brother and sister who turned restlessly, clutching at their blankets. Without thinking, the spectral boy leaped off the windowsill and snatched a broken tree branch from the ground, attaching the diamond dagger to its end. He aimed his gleaming weapon at the window."

A chorus of 'oohs' and 'wows' rose from the children sitting cross-legged around Jack, arranged in a semi-circle so they could all see his face as he spoke. Bundled in his arms a tiny babe named Hildegarde slept soundly, swaddled in woolen blankets so that only her plump face was visible. She wasn’t a particularly pretty baby – her nose squat, her forehead bulging, and her eyes too small for her face – but she was sweet and cheerful and when he had first approached the girl's mother, smiling at the crying infant and speaking in soothing tones, her tears had stopped instantly and she had smiled so brightly that for a moment at least she seemed like the most beautiful baby in the world.

Hildegarde's mother had thanked him profusely for calming her child. The viking woman appeared to be overworked, taking care of her daughter while simultaneously attempting to tend to dozens of wounded villagers. Jack had offered to take the babe off of her hands, only for a little while, and seeing how quickly not only her child, but also the shy boy from next door had taken to the mysterious white-haired stranger Hildegarde's mother had placed the baby in his arms without a second thought.

Wulfric hadn’t left Jack's side since entering the Great Hall, clutching Jack’s damp hoodie in his fists. He was uncomfortable with the noise and the crowd inside the Great Hall, wishing desperately that he could go home with his mother and father. Except… They were gone. And as scary as everything was, Jack made him feel safe. Still, anxiety twisted his fingers deeper into the fabric of Jack's strange garb and kept his lower lip pinched firmly between his teeth.

Jack had noticed the young boy's anxiety, having felt something similar upon entering the Great Hall. Three hundred years of solitude had rendered him ill at ease with large crowds and he’d nearly backpedaled the moment the wide, stone doors slid open spilling out all of the light and sounds and smells from within, but he remembered his promise to Torborg. He’d sworn on the Moon he would come back, and so he would, simple as that.

So, babe in hand and child still attached to his hoodie, Jack had set his staff against the nearest wall, plopped down on the packed-dirt floor, and said, "Hey, would you guys like to hear a story?"

He’d started with the very first story he knew from the Tome of the Guardians, the one of Nightlight and the Moon Clipper and the death of Tsar Lunanoff and his wife. Slowly more children had begun to gather round, enraptured by Jack's strange appearance and his spellbinding story, and now Jack found himself surrounded as he began the tale of North's induction into the Guardians. Something about the scene tugged at his heart, stirring up some ancient memory of a life long forgotten, but he ignored it in favor of keeping the children entertained.

"But up on the Moon there was no cause for laughter. Tsar Lunanoff, the one we call the Man in the Moon, was on alert. Each night he sent hundreds of thousands of moonbeams down to Earth, and each night they returned and made their reports. If they were still bright-"

"Jack!"

Jack's head snapped up, eyes brightening at the sight of a certain blue-eyed girl with dark pigtails.

"Tory!" he called, cradling Hildegarde in one hand and waving profusely with the other. One of the other children, and older boy by the name of Gustav, glared at Torborg for interrupting the story, but she paid him no mind as she stepped through the circle and threw her arms around Jack's shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't find your Lamby," Jack explained, rubbing her back. "I'll get you a new one, okay?"

"S'okay," she replied. Pulling back, she took in the sight of the baby cradled against Jack's chest. "Hi Magnus."

Jack blinked. "Magnus?"

Torborg got no chance to respond. A moment later two more voices were calling Jack's name and when he looked up he found Hiccup, Toothless, and Astrid rapidly approaching through the mob.

"Hey Astrid! Hic!" Jack called. "What brings you here?"

"I happen to live here," the brunette replied, sending Jack a withering look. "What are you doing here?"

"Story time," Jack replied, gesturing to the circle of children around him. "Duh."

"Hey, are you gonna get back to the story or not?" Gustav snapped, apparently fed up with the interruptions. Jack raised an eyebrow.

"I dunno." Bouncing the baby slightly, Jack said, "I think my story's put Maggie to sleep. Maybe it's time we call it quits." Simultaneously the other children let out a clamor of high pitched 'nooooooos,' shooting Gustav dirty looks. One blonde-haired child leaned over to punch Gustav in the arm. Jack laughed, shaking his head. "I'm just kidding. Just give me a minute, all right kiddos?"

The children nodded, Torborg releasing her loose hold as Jack stood. He padded through the semi-circle, approaching Toothless first who sniffed curiously at the sleeping infant in his arms.

((Soft-fragile-hatchling-weak-soft-weak-defenseless,)) the nightfury crooned as Hildegarde's face scrunched up.

"Yeah, she's cute, isn't she?" Jack replied, missing the odd looks he was receiving from the two viking teens.

"Adorable," Hiccup replied dryly. He wasn’t about to tell Jack that she was probably the ugliest baby he had ever seen. "But seriously, what are you doing here?"

"All right, you caught me. I'm collecting an army of pint-sized minions to help me take over the world." Jack rolled his eyes. "I thought I could help out, that's all."

"And did anyone see you helping?" Hiccup hoped Jack understood the emphasis on the word 'helping.'

"Yeah, two kids, and a guy with a bucket on his head who can’t remember my name even after I told him twenty times. Everyone else was too busy running around to pay any attention.” He bounced Hildegarde gently in his arms, earning a giggle. “Look, I’m not stupid. I know how adults can be.”

"I didn't… mean it like that." Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you for coming."

Jack cracked a smile, not a smirk. His lips parted but whatever he was about to say was drowned out by bellowing voice, causing Hiccup to flinch.

"Hiccup!" The burly owner of the voice weaved through the crowd with surprising grace for a man his size. "Son!"

Gobber following closely behind Stoick as he fought his way to Hiccup. Jack's children fidgeted nervously at the grown ups' approach but Jack himself stood his ground, staring at the viking chief curiously.

"There ya are. I've been looking all over for you." Stoick's attention was solely on Hiccup, ignoring Astrid and Jack outright. "We need to get repairs underway as soon as possible, and Gobber's going to need your help. I understand you're tired, but the more we get done tonight the better."

"Yeah, Dad. I understand." Placing a hand on Toothless's saddle, Hiccup was just about to leave when-

"Wait, that's your dad!?" Five sets of eyes were on Jack now as the white-haired youth looked back and forth between Hiccup and Stoick, gaping like a fish. "Are you sure?"

A heavy, awkward silence fell over the group. Then Gobber smashed it to pieces by bursting out into a fit of laughter.

"Ah used ta think the same thing!" the blacksmith-slash-dragon-dentist howled between peals of laughter.

Stoick ignored his best friend's crude laughter in favor of staring at Jack, calculating eyes taking in his foreign clothes, his sopping wet white hair, his bare feet caked with mud and soot. Hiccup could just imagine the questions running through his father's mind: 'Who are you?' or 'Where did you come from?' or even 'What's wrong with your hair?'

What Stoick actually asked absolutely floored him.

"Lad, where are your boots?"

Chapter Text

Hiccup could swear his heart was about to smash its way clean through his rib cage. Toothless rumbled at him in irritation as he paced back and forth, prosthetic leg squeaking with each step. Jack watched, lips quirked upwards without the slightest hint of apprehension.

“At this rate, you’re going to wear a hole in your floor,” he commented before his eyes went back to the task at hand.

Jack sat cross legged on the armrest Stoick’s favorite chair, staff leaning against the nearby wall, within arm’s reach as usual. While Hiccup had been pacing he’d preoccupied himself by picking chips of frozen mud off of his feet and ankles and then flicking them into the fire, each piece hissing and sizzling as it melted away. Baby Tooth, on the other hand, was flitting about the hut, apparently curious about the inside of Hiccup’s home. She inspected the colorfully painted shields on the wall along with the swords and spears, the Chief’s furs and helmets, the chests tucked into the corners, the firewood under the stairs. Anything and everything, really. All in all, the two spirits looked entirely too calm considering Jack was waiting to be interrogated by Stoick the Vast.

The complete opposite of Hiccup, whose panicking was liable to do as Jack said and wear a ditch in the floor of his hut.

“Oh, my dad is going to to have so many questions...”

None of which Hiccup knew how to answer without arousing suspicion. His dad was going to want to know who Jack was. How he’d ended up on Berk, what he was doing there, and when it came out that Hiccup had already known about him for a few days he was going to want to know why Hiccup didn’t bring him to the village right away.

“Seriously, if you keep worrying like that you’re gonna go bald,” Jack teased. He broke off another piece of mud and flicked it away. Hiccup couldn’t help but marvel at how clean his skin was underneath. Like it just repelled the dirt. “Just tell him the truth.”

“Oh yeah, just tell my dad a winter god fell out of the sky and has been hiding out on Berk for the past several days, that’ll go over well. If I’m not the one tied to a mast and shipped off, it’ll be you.”

“Not a god,” Jack said for what must have been the dozenth time with a roll of his eyes. “And maybe not all of it. I’ll just say I ended up here and you found me, and that I don’t know how to get home. That’s all true.”

“And if he asks where you’re from?” Hiccup asked. He’d admit, he was curious as well. Jack’s answers when he tried to ask before were frustratingly vague.

“I’ll say I lost my memory,” Jack replied as he scraped off a bunch of mud at once. It fell to the floor and started to melt almost immediately. “That’s sort of true too.”

Hiccup blinked. “Really?”

Jack nodded. Sort of true? What did ‘sort of true’ mean? Did that have something to do with why he couldn’t get home?

...Actually, maybe now wasn’t the time to worry about that. He’d focus on the current crisis for now, and come back to that later.

“Dad… might not accept that as an answer. Stoick the Vast is definitely the suspicious type,” he pointed out. Jack just shrugged.

“Then I’ll leave,” he said. “If people are uncomfortable with me staying here, I won’t. Problem solved.”

Hiccup bit the inside of his cheek. It wasn’t like he could stop Jack from leaving if that’s what he wanted to do. And if Stoick didn’t accept Jack or if the other Hooligans were suspicious of him, that might be the safest course of action. But he’d admit, the fact that Jack could leave so easily – that he didn’t even need to think about it, that he was so apparently ready to just pick up and go at a moment’s notice – was a little bit sad.

“I guess,” he said after a long pause. “But… I dunno. I’d kind of like it if you did stay here.”

For the first time Jack looked up from his mud-flaked feet. He just stared at Hiccup, expression blank, eyes searching Hiccup’s face for… something. Even Baby Tooth went still, perching on the handle of a war axe leaned against the wall and looking between Jack and Hiccup curiously. Hiccup stared back, growing increasingly more uncomfortable with each moment that passed and soon enough he averted his gaze, flicking his eyes to the door and to Toothless as he tried to think of something else to say.

Jack beat him to it, after turning his attention back to his feet. He’d scraped most of the mud off of the one foot, so he swapped and started working on the other.

“...Yeah. I’d kinda like to stick around too.” A slight pause. “But hey, it’s not like even if I did have to leave we couldn’t still see each other. We’d just do it in secret, like we’ve been doing. I could always pretend to leave the island and then hide out in the woods. Or I could head somewhere else and come back and visit every once in a while. I’m pretty flexible.”

Flexible was one word for it. Flighty was another, and the one Hiccup would have gone with.

“Just… try to behave for my dad? Please? We won’t have to worry about what to do if it goes wrong, if nothing goes wrong.”

“I make no promises,” Jack said with a cheeky grin, his frost fairy tweeting almost as if in agreement. Hiccup groaned.

Stoick heaved a weary sigh as he approached his hut. It was just before dawn and repairs were well underway, though they would have gone a lot faster with his son’s assistance. But Hiccup wasn’t available to help with the repairs. He and his nightfury had a more important task; guarding the foreigner who’d appeared seemingly from thin air.

A child he might have been, but Stoick found the boy suspicious nonetheless. From his foreign garb, to his outburst in the Great Hall, to the fact that he’d apparently fought off Outcasts with nothing but a walking stick. And the fact that he’d just somehow appeared on Berk, in the middle of an attack…

He’d try to reserve judgment. At least until he’d heard the boy’s story for himself. But as things were, it didn’t look good.

Composing his expression into a stern one, he pulled open the door of his hut and stepped inside, acutely aware of the voices within falling silent the moment he did.

Hiccup and the foreigner both stared at him expectantly. Stoick scowled; the boy was sitting on his favorite armchair. And had put his bare feet on the seat. If he was at all intimidated by the chief, he did a good job of hiding it, but Stoick caught the brief moment where the boy’s eyes darted to the staff leaning against the wall. Eventually, Hiccup cleared his throat.

“So, uh, Dad-” Hiccup started, stepping forward, but Stoick cut him off.

“I’m told you protected the children and Bucket during the Outcast attack. I’m grateful for that.” The boy shrugged, as if he didn't consider a chief's thanks a particularly valuable thing to have. Stoick continued, “However, it’s time you’ve answered some questions; such as who you are and what you’re doing on Berk.”

The boy opened his mouth to answer, but was also cut off by Stoick.

“And get out of my chair.”

The boy rolled his eyes – rolled his eyes! – but did as he was told, rising gracefully to stand on the seat and then hopping down with scarcely a sound made upon impact with the floor. As he reached for the crook leaned against the wall, Stoick couldn't help internally wincing at the sight of how truly small this boy was. He wasn’t quite as short as Hiccup, but he was just as thin, and Stoick found himself wondering if the boy was perhaps underfed. With skin that pale, there was no way he wasn’t sickly. Which made his story of having fought off Outcast warriors in the earlier battle all the more suspect.

“Wow, you weren’t exaggerating,” the boy said, addressing not Stoick, but Hiccup instead. Stoick raised an eyebrow while Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Just… Just answer his questions, Jack.”

That was certainly an exotic name.

“Yeah yeah, I got it,” Jack said, still addressing Hiccup. Finally he turned to Stoick.

“So, your name is Jack,” Stoick said. “Is there a clan name to go with that?”

“...Beats me,” Jack answered, fidgeting with that staff of his. “I, ah, don’t remember my family. Or… most of my life, for that matter.”

Stoick’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Yeah yeah, I know how that sounds, but it’s the truth. I woke up out in the woods, and the first and only thing I knew was my name. I kinda wandered around on my own for a while trying to figure out where I was and how I got here, then Hic and his friends found me.”

“He’s telling the truth, Dad,” Hiccup said, stepping closer to Jack. “When we found him he was… dazed, confused, like he had a head injury. He nearly walked off of a cliff and Toothless and I had to catch him.”

Nodding, Stoick considered the boy’s story. Memory loss was a simple thing to fake. But, if Hiccup could attest to his state, Stoick supposed there could be some truth to it.

“And when was this, exactly?” Stoick asked. “You don’t expect me to believe this happened right before the Outcast attack?”

The boys exchanged a guilty look and Stoick felt his head begin to throb.

“Well, you see, the thing is-” Hiccup started, only for Jack to cut him off.

“I’ve been here for a couple of days now, living in the woods.”

Stoick was gobsmacked.

“Lad, it’s freezin’ out there!”

Jack shrugged.

“I figure wherever I came from must be even colder than here, ‘cause the weather doesn’t bother me that much.”

“And do you figure they also don’t wear boots where you’re from?” Stoick asked, pointing down. Jack looked down at his feet and then back up at Stoick with a shrug.

“When I heard the dragons screaming and saw the smoke from the fire I ran straight here as fast as I could,” Jack replied. “I didn’t think to stop and grab any shoes.”

“How in Skaði's name do you still have all your toes?”

“I mean, to be fair, the village was pretty toasty by the time I arrived.”

“Oh my gods,” Hiccup said, earning a sheepish grin.

Small wonder Hiccup seemed to like this boy; they both had inappropriate senses of humor. A low growl rose in Stoick’s throat as he reached up to rub his temple.

“And what was your plan then, hm?” he asked. “To simply live out in the woods for the rest of your life?”

“Of course not; eventually I’d move in with my army of trolls and take over the village, the island, and then the rest of the world.” At Stoick’s disapproving glare Jack put up his hands defensively and said, “I wasn’t gonna stay out there forever, just ‘til I figured out how to get home. If everything had gone according to plan you’d never even know or care that I was here.”

Stoick turned his eyes to his son, who offered his father an offhand shrug.

“Hiccup, if you knew a stranger was on the island, why didn’t you bring him here as soon as you found him?”

This time at least both boys had the decency to look sheepish. Stoick’s bushy brows narrowed into a fearsome glare as he waited for an answer. When it didn’t seem like Hiccup was going to answer, it was the white haired youth who finally stepped up.

“I asked him not to,” Jack said. At the look on Stoick’s face he continued, “Hey, I woke up alone in the middle of the woods with no idea where I am or how I got here. Then Hiccup shows up and I find out this is an island full of massive, loud, angry, axe-swinging, dragon-riding vikings. You think you’re suspicious of me? For all I know, you guys are the reason I’m here.”

For a moment Stoick was too bewildered to remember to be annoyed. Whatever he was expecting from this stranger, it certainly wasn’t such a… straightforward response . He’d admit, the boy made a fair point, assuming he was telling the truth. Stoick still couldn’t just take him at his word, but he supposed he could at least give the boy a chance to earn some trust. And earn some himself, while he was at it. He stroked his beard, weighing his options.

“Dad, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him earlier,” Hiccup said, stepping forward. “But I honestly don’t think Jack’s a threat. The dragons liked him right away, and I trust Toothless’s judgment.”

“Despite what you may think, son, the opinion of a two thousand pound fire breathing reptile is not the strongest case for the trustworthiness of a stranger.”

Toothless huffed while Jack shot a glance in Hiccup’s direction.

“Hate to say it, but he’s kinda got a point there,” the white haired boy said. This time it was Hiccup’s turn to shoot Jack an exasperated look. “Just saying.”

“So,” Stoick started again, drawing the two boys’ attention, “here’s what we’ll do. Hiccup, you found him, so you’ll be in charge of watching over him.”

Jack turned to Hiccup and said, “I’m so sorry.”

“And Jack-” The playful expression fell and Jack turned back to face Stoick. “-you’ll be staying in my hut for the time being.”

Just until Stoick figured out what to do with him, and until he was sure the boy could be trusted. The last bit, he assumed, went without saying. But apparently not, judging by Jack’s immediate response.

“No thanks.”

Hiccup’s jaw dropped, apparently just as stunned by Jack’s words as Stoick himself was.

“I beg your pardon?” Stoick growled.

“No thanks,” Jack repeated, just as smoothly as he had the first time. “I’m good. Like I said, the cold doesn’t bother me much, and I don’t really like closed in spaces very much.”

“This isn’t about your comfort, lad. You can’t be left on your own.”

“Why not?”

Stoick stared at Jack, trying to figure out whether the boy was really that oblivious or if he was being intentionally obtuse. Hiccup was mimicking Stoick now, fingers massaging quick circles into his temples.

“Because,” Stoick growled, “you’re a stranger on our island, and even if you weren’t, you’re still a child.”

“No I’m not!” Jack protested.

Stoick had his mouth open to insist that ‘yes he was’ when a knock came at the door. Giving Jack a stern look and a finger to wait, he turned to answer the door.

The boys started whispering to one another the moment his back was turned, voices low enough that he couldn't quite make out what they were saying.

“Jack!” Hiccup hissed as his father was distracted. “I thought you said you were going to behave!”

“I am behaving,” Jack replied. “Badly.”

Hiccup groaned and rubbed his temple in a manner strangely reminiscent of his father Toothless goff goff goffed at his rider’s frustration. Behind one of the fins on his head, Baby Tooth joined in his laughing at Hiccup, though she remained safely out of sight just in case Stoick turned around at the wrong moment.

“Jack, please .”

“Look Hic,” Jack started, playfulness gone as he addressed the viking teen seriously, “your dad is going to be suspicious of me no matter what I say or do. And I’m not going to quietly let you guys lock me up in here.”

“No one’s talking about locking you up!” Hiccup whisper-yelled. “All I’m asking is you try to be a little more polite!”

“What’s impolite about, ‘No thank you?’” Jack asked, earning himself a dry look from the dragon rider.

“You know what I mean!”

The front door swung shut and both Hiccup’s and Jack’s eyes snapped towards Stoick as he turned to face them once more.

“I have to leave,” he said, booming voice drowning out their quiet whispering. “The village requires my attention for the time being. This conversation isn’t over. You-” He jabbed a finger at Jack. “-stay here. And you-” He jabbed his finger at Hiccup. “-keep an eye on him. I’ll try to make it quick.”

And with that, he turned, grabbed the handle of the axe leaning against the wall, and threw open the door of his hut where Gobber was waiting for him. He swung the door shut behind him, maybe a little harder than he needed to, if the shield that suddenly fell off of the wall was any indication.

Hiccup and Jack stared after him, expressions blank.

“….Okay, let’s go.” Jack started for the door, only to be jerked back by his hood.

“Jack! What are you doing!?” Hiccup said. “You heard what my dad said!”

“Yeah, I heard him,” Jack said as he tugged his hood free. “And I’ve elected to ignore him. C’mon, Hic! I’ve only seen the village from the rooftops. I wanna go check it out up close!”

“And you can! Later! But right now we should just do what my dad says and wait for him.”

“Okay, we could do that, or – and hear me out on this one – we could go out and have some fun,” Jack said. “And then sneak back in before he notices we’re gone.”

Well, it wasn’t like Hiccup didn’t have experience sneaking into and out of his own home, but…

“No, that’s gonna be a no from me,” Hiccup said. “It’s too risky, there’s no way we won’t get caught.”

Jack’s smile slipped away and his shoulders sagged the slightest bit. Out of the corner of his eye Hiccup noticed Toothless slumping as well, and he did feel a bit guilty. With Stoick out of the house Baby Tooth had emerged from her hiding place as well and was standing atop Toothless’s head, openly glowering at Hiccup with her tiny arms crossed. She tweeted something at him angrily and Hiccup braced himself for Jack to argue further.

“Fine.”

...Huh?

“Wait, really?” Hiccup asked, raising an eyebrow. “Just like that?”

Jack shrugged. Baby Tooth’s wings hummed to life as she zipped over to the snow sprite’s side, hovering in the air by his head.

“You won me over. I’m just going to head upstairs for a bit. I want to see what your room looks like in the daylight.”

Not giving Hiccup a chance to answer, Jack took to the air and floated up to Hiccup’s loft. The wind caused the flames in the fire pit to dance and sent the weapons and decorations on the walls to clatter noisily. Baby Tooth zipped over to Toothless to give him a pat on the nose before following after her partner.

Sadly, that had gone far better than Hiccup expected. He turned to his dragon, who tilted his head in confusion and rumbled low in his chest, fixing Hiccup with a dry look.

“Don- Don’t look at me like that. You heard my dad,” Hiccup said, giving Toothless a pat on the head. “Hey bud, we’ll all get to go out later.”

It wasn’t like Hiccup didn’t understand where Jack was coming from. He hated being cooped up too, and he could remember plenty of past incidents where his father had grounded him to the hut. Not that grounding usually did much, considering the number of times Hiccup had slipped out through his bedroom windo-

Oh.

Hiccup’s eyes went wide instantly and Toothless perked up, almost as if sensing where Hiccup’s train of thought was going. His prosthetic squeaked loudly as he raced up the stairs.

The top floor was empty. No Jack. No Baby Tooth. Hiccup stared blankly at the open window, vaguely aware of Toothless clamoring up the stairs after him and knocking things off the wall with his tail. Toothless plopped down next to Hiccup, giving off a pleased rumble.

The worst part was, Hiccup knew he should have seen that coming.

The village was so… busy in the daytime. Jack watched, frozen at the end of the path leading from the chief's hut to the village itself. The people of Berk definitely worked fast, despite the blanket of white coating the ground. Even after the fires had been doused Jack’s sleet the snow continued falling for quite a while. What the flames had melted had frozen into a sheet of flowing ice that paved the roads and made it difficult to get around. But the vikings had wasted no time in breaking up the ice to make the roads usable once more. Already they’d cleared out most of the burnt structures and recovered what was still salvageable from the destroyed houses. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t still work to be done and the adults were all still busy. Busy enough that they didn’t notice Jack at all as he stood off to the side, watching.

At least, that’s what he told himself.

The night before he’d been hesitant about entering the Great Hall full of people. With everyone crammed into such a tight space it would have been so easy for someone to… Regardless, he’d been fine, sequestered in the corner of the massive hall with the children and out of the way of the adults bustling about. He’d be fine here too. He could easily get out of the way before-

((Jackie,)) Baby Tooth tweeted, peeking out of his hood just barely. ((Weren’t we going to go look around?))

“Yeah,” he breathed, steeling himself. “Yeah, we are. Let me just...”

Okay, so things didn’t usually go well for him when he tried entering human towns, but things were different now. This place, these people were different. He took a deep breath, and braced himself to step forward-

-and then jolted when something touched his back.

Whirling around, he was met with the stunned look on Hiccup’s face as he flinched away. Toothless started as well, wings flaring as he reared back in equal surprise. Jack just stared at Hiccup for a moment, and then, realizing he’d overreacted, forced an awkward smile onto his face.

“Jack, are you okay?” Hiccup didn’t look annoyed anymore just… Jack wasn’t sure. Kinda like Bunny that one time Jack mentioned he could count the number of times he’d tasted chocolate in his three hundred years on one hand.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just...” He turned his eyes back to the village. “You guys work fast, huh?”

Hiccup followed his gaze.

“That’s what three hundred years of war with dragons will do; old village, lots and lots of new houses.”

“War with dragons?” Jack echoed, turning back to Hiccup. “...You said you shot Toothless down before. Because you were at war?”

“Yeah, not that long ago actually,” Hiccup answered. “Dragons used to raid our villages for food and we’d fight them off, usually to the death. But not… not anymore. We learned how to understand one another and now...”

They watched as a woman walked by, guiding a gronkle who’d allowed her to strap a harness to it and hook it up to a cart full of building supplies. The woman and the gronkle carried the supplies over to the wooden skeleton of what was shaping up to be a brand new house. Smaller dragons – terrible terrors – carried up buckets full of nails and tools and other supplies to the builders up on the ladders, and a monstrous nightmare allowed one man to stand on its horns as it positioned him exactly where he needed to be to nail one of the support beams in place. All over the village humans and dragons were working together to rebuild their home.

Jack smiled at the sight. Berk really was amazing.

Hiccup’s eyes weren’t on the village though. He was watching Jack, watching the childlike wonder on his face, and he felt another pang of guilt as he realized he was going to have to ruin that happiness and drag Jack back to the hut.

“...We need to get back, before my dad realizes we left.”

“Aw, c’mon Hic,” Jack whined, turning back to the lanky Viking. He was playing with his staff again, twisting it in his hands as he spoke. “I’ve never gotten to actually… visit a town like this. I just want to walk around for a few minutes.”

“I...” Hiccup trailed off as Jack continued to stare at him. He should say no, he should say no, he should say- “Ten minutes.” Hiccup mentally kicked himself. “And we have to be careful to avoid my dad.”

Jack beamed at him and he couldn’t bring himself to regret it, even though he already knew he was going to pay for it later.

“Trust me, I am a master of stealth!” Jack assured him before grabbing his wrist. “Now come on!”

With that they darted off into the village proper, or rather, Jack did, dragging Hiccup along for the ride. And then, not ten steps later, came to an abrupt halt as a man pushing a cartload of lumber came barreling their way. Jack screeched to a halt, eyes going wide, and so did the cart, just barely in time to avoid hitting the two boys. Hiccup’s heartbeat pounded away in his eardrums as he slammed into Jack and registered the sight of the cart and the very, very large man pushing it.

For a moment, Jack forgot how to breathe.

“Whoops, sorry ‘bout that lads!” Herleifr the Hazard said, backing his cart up. “Yah shouldn’t run out so suddenly like that! Yer liable to getchur self run over!”

With that, Herleifr continued on his way, and Hiccup breathed out a sigh of relief that they hadn’t been crushed.

Jack stared after Herleifr, a slow, silly smile stretching across his face.

“He saw me...” Jack breathed out. Inside his hood, Baby Tooth moved around, feeling soothing emotions at him as it finally sank in that no, last night hadn’t been a fluke, or a dream. It wasn’t just an odd handful of people who saw him.

He was visible. To everybody.

Hiccup watched Jack’s face closely, confusion apparent on his own.

“Of- Of course he saw you? Why wouldn’t he-?”

Jack didn’t stick around to answer. He took off once more, leaving behind an increasingly bewildered and frustrated Hiccup. Jack flitted through the streets, bouncing excitedly as he ran up to one person after another, greeting them excitedly and never seeming to notice or care about their stunned and startled expressions when he did. Not everyone said hello back, but they at least reacted to him, looked at him, and that was enough.

“Hello! Hello! Hi, hello there!”

Hiccup ran after him, throwing apologies over his shoulder as he did. Running after a fleet footed winter spirit with one good leg was no easy task.

Sweat poured off of Gobber’s head in buckets, the clanging of metal echoing in his ears as he continued to fill pails with new nails, hinges, screws, and fittings, setting them in the stall window for the busy workers or helping dragons to take, and alternating between repairing and forging new tools for the massive job. He’d been holed up in the forge for hours, the sole blacksmith at work and despite the assurances he’d given his best friend and chief, he was sorely beginning to miss Hiccup’s assistance.

“No, Jack get back here! Toothless, don’t encourage him!”

Speak of the jötunn…

Gobber looked up from a metal rod he’d been hammering into shape just in time to see a white blur flit by his window, followed shortly after by the familiar sight of Toothless running about, and then a moment later by none other than his lost apprentice.

“Hiccup!” Gobber called, offering a hearty wave with his hammer hand before returning to his smithing. “Good tah see ya out and about!”

Hiccup’s head popped back into view as he finally registered and reacted to the voice calling out his name.

“Gobber! Hey, h-how are yo- You haven’t seen my father, have you?” he asked, leaning not-quite casually against the stall window. And nearly getting knocked over when Sven reached over him to grab a bucket of metal fittings.

“Stoick?” Gobber asked. “Nah, ‘e’s busy settlin’ disputes ‘tween vikings with real estate plans; a few of those meatheads go’ the idea to expand their ‘ouses with the old ones burnt to a crisp. And they’re buttin’ heads about who’s buildin’ on whose land.”

“Well that sounds… incredibly stressful and rough to deal with so I’ll just be-”

“Hic?”

Gobber looked up at the sound of a familiar voice. Looked like he found the identity of the white blur; the mouthy twig from the previous night. The boy had come to stand next to Hiccup, Toothless rubbing against him with a contented purr before returning to his rider’s side.

“Who’re you talking to?” the strange boy asked, eyes on Hiccup. Gobber caught the boy throwing him a glance at him out of the corner of his eye and raised his hammer-hand to offer a hearty wave.

“Oh, uh-” Hiccup started the introductions, only to be cut off when a monstrous nightmare shoved between him and Jack, snapped up the handle of a bucket between its teeth, and turned and stalked off.

“Why don’ tha two of ye come in,” Gobber said, waving them inside. “Yer blockin’ the window.”

Following his instruction, the two teenagers rounded the side of Gobber’s stall and entered the forge proper, Hiccup shedding his fur vest at the door and the white-haired boy gawking at everything like he’d never seen a simple smithy before.

Leaning towards Hiccup as the boy came near, Gobber cupped his good hand around his mouth and whispered, “Is it me or is that boy a few swords short of an armory?”

“No, he lost his memory,” Hiccup was quick to assure him. “Jack doesn’t remember ever being in a village before, so everything’s kind of… new and exciting to him.”

Before Gobber could comment, Jack’s voice cut across the smithy.

“Hey Hic, what’s this?”

Tearing his eyes away from Gobber, Hiccup found Jack standing in the portion of the shop sectioned off for Hiccup’s experimental projects and tinkering. Toothless trailed after him, trying to be careful but smacking buckets of tools and metal with his tail and accidentally slapping Gobber across the face at one point. Hiccup placed a hand on Toothless’s muzzle and lead him through the shop as he approached Jack.

“Oh, that’s an old prototype of mine,” he answered as he saw the thing Jack was looking at. “Don’t touch it, it’s kind of… twitchy.”

The prototype in question was a mounted ballista on wheels, designed to launch bolas farther than even the strongest man could throw them. The final version of the weapon had met an… unfortunate end in a dragon attack, but the prototype remained safe and sound in the shop. It stood half the height of the final version, but as more than a few unfortunate Vikings had discovered, it didn’t pack any less of a punch at close range.

But Jack’s attention had already moved on from the ballista prototype and he was now looking at the wall covered in blueprints and drawings all done in Hiccup’s hand. Net launchers and weapons, but also saddles, upgrade ideas for his prosthetic, and alternate tail fin ideas for Toothless. Some of them had prototypes of their own, mostly early development. Pale fingers trailed across the metal rods of a new tail prosthetic as he took it all in.

Then Jack turned to Hiccup with a bright expression.

“Did you design all of these yourself?”

“Some- Well, no, yeah, all of them,” Hiccup admitted, hand coming up to rub the back of his neck.

“That’s amazing!”

"...Really?"

Jack shifted his attention to a blueprint, regarding it with a faint smile. "These must have taken you a long time. Most adults I know aren't half as creative."

Hiccup couldn't help a soft, bashful smile.

And then his good mood was promptly interrupted by the barking sound of his uncle’s voice over the clanging of Gobber’s hammer and the bustling of the village.

“Oi, blacksmith, ye got that part I ordered?”

Both Hiccup and Jack turned around and Gobber scowled at the arrival of Spitelout Jorgenson. Snotlout’s father – Stoick’s brother-in-law – looked exactly like a bigger, meaner, hairier version of Snotlout, and acted like one to boot.

“It’s over there on tha workbench,” Gobber answered without looking up from the tool he was working on. Lifting it from the anvil, he turned the hammerhead over to appraise it. “Go ahead an’ jes’ take it. I needja outta my ear hairs so I kin focus on the rest o’ these orders.”

Leaning towards Hiccup and cupping his hand around his mouth, Jack whispered, “Now there’s an image that’s hard to get rid of.”

Hiccup whispered back, “Yeah, I’m gonna be trying to erase that one for a week.”

Spitelout ducked his head as he entered the shop to grab the building part Gobber had set aside for him, catching sight of the two teens out of the corner of his eye as he did. Hiccup didn’t miss the nasty expression that crossed his face.

“Are ye collectin’ runts now, blacksmith?” Spitelout asked as he appraised the part with a critical eye. Hiccup rolled his eyes, not particularly bothered by his uncle’s attitude after years of practice dealing with it.

Toothless, on the other hand, fixed Spitelout with an open glare, huffing at him and sending angry little puffs of smoke out through his nose. And Jack seemed to be on the same page as Toothless, grip tightening on his staff.

“What’s your problem?” he demanded, making no attempt to avoid angering the much larger, heavier, and stronger man.

Spitelout’s attention snapped up from the building part, sending Hiccup’s heart leaping up into his throat.

“You got somethin’ to say, half-pint?” he growled back, stepping forward as though he was going to physically fight an unarmed kid half his height.

To Hiccup’s immense relief, Gobber stepped in before things could get ugly.

“Lay off the boy, Spitelout,” he interrupted, cutting off whatever it was Spitelout was about to say. “Ye’ve already taken ‘nough blows to the noggin, no reason ta embarrass yerself fightin’ a kid.”

“Yah might want te learn to watch your mouth, blacksmith,” Spitelout said, turning his glare on Gobber. “A man with less patience might take it upon ‘imself ta shut yer gob for good.”

“If ye can find a man with less patience on Berk or anywhere else in tha archipelago, I’ll eat mah left socks,” Gobber said, turning over the piece he was currently working on. “The ones ah still ‘ave, anyway.”

And like that, the two became embroiled in arguing with one another. Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief that he and Jack had been forgotten, but Jack rolled his eyes… and then caught sight of a certain something. Elbowing Hiccup, he used his staff to point out the prototype. For a brief moment Hiccup simply stared, and then his eyes went wide, mouth moving soundlessly as he begged Jack not to.

Jack nodded, a smirk on his face, and then nudged the prototype with the end of his staff.

The prototype sprung to life.

“-ya half-witted half-tro-”

Sproing!

Thwap!

Spitelout’s insult was cut short as a bola came flying at his face. The weights helicoptered around his head before clanging noisily against his helmet. He collapsed in a heap on the smithy floor, out in an instant. Gobber howled with laughter and Toothless goff goff goffed while Hiccup just looked on in horror.

His dad was so going to kill him. Slowly turning to Jack, he didn’t find anything remotely resembling remorse on the vættr's face.

“Whoops.”

Inside his hood, Baby Tooth was holding back snickers as well, though with all the noise from the forge itself, not to mention everything happening outside, she needn’t have bothered. After a moment Toothless made his way over to give Spitelout’s unconscious body a sniff. Followed by a big, slimy, consoling lick across the side of his face. Spitelout grimaced and let out a disgusted shudder but didn’t wake.

“He’s gonna be alright, right?” Jack asked, resisting the urge to prod Spitelout with his staff. Gobber laughed him off.

“Ah course. Man’s got a skull like a boulder. Taken more knocks to tha noggin’ than a couple a gronkles in a headbuttin’ contest.”

Jack stared at Gobber, smiled politely, and said, “Okay then.”

“We probably still shouldn’t be here when he wakes up,” Hiccup said, taking Jack’s sleeve and tugging him towards the exit. “If he asks, we weren’t-”

“WHAT IN THOR’S NAME ARE YE DOING!? THAT’S NOT HOW YOU PATCH A ROOF!”

Stoick’s voice thundered over the entire island and Hiccup and Jack both exchanged a nervous look.

“Oh look at that, our cue to leave. Later Gobber!”

And without waiting for a response from the blacksmith, Jack and Hiccup sprinted out the door followed shortly after by Toothless, tail whacking a crate full of scrap metal and sending it spilling across the smithy floor in his excitement.

Not twenty seconds after they’d left, Stoick was squeezing into Gobber’s tiny smithy, grumbling about stubborn, boar-headed vikings. His grumbling came to an abrupt halt when he noticed the man sprawled out on the floor of the smithy along with a mountain of scrap.

He stared for a full minute before finally turning to Gobber.

“Do I even want to know?”

“He had an unfortunate run in with one of Hiccup’s machines,” Gobber answered, lifting the heated metal he’d been hammering into shape and, after turning it over and inspecting every inch of the piece, submerged it in a barrel of water with a loud hiss. “Ye just missed ‘im, by the way.”

Stoick raised an eyebrow. “Spitelout?”

“Hiccup,” Gobber corrected. “Jes’ passed through ‘ere with that dragon and ‘is new friend.”

Massive brows furrowing into a fierce glare, Stoick growled out, “Oh he did, did he...”

It took a moment, but soon enough Gobber did register the chief’s tone. Finally looking up from his project, he threw Stoick a curious glance.

“Ah, was ‘e not supposed to?”

Stoick just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“That he was not. He was supposed to stay in the hut watching over our guest while I saw to the village. Of all the irresponsible...”

Gobber shrugged, carrying on with his work.

“Well, it’s not like they’re gettin’ in tha way, really,” he pointed out. “Worse they did was knock out Spitelout, an’ if anythin’ thas a favor to the whole village.”

“It’s not them getting in the way I’m worried about,” Stoick said, stepping over Spitelout’s body to make his way over to Gobber. “That boy is… very strange. I don’t want him wandering around where he pleases until I’m sure he’s not a threat.”

“’E’s got Hiccup with him, and Hiccup’s got Toothless who, need I remind you, is a two-thousand pound fire breathin’ dragon. I doubt that boy will be doin’ much harm under their watch.”

Stoick fixed Gobber with a dry look, and then gestured to Spitelout.

“...Yeah, but ‘e deserved it.”

“You don’t get it, Gobber. The boy he’s with isn’t from Berk. I don’t even think he’s from the Barbaric Archipelago.”

“Ye don’ say,” Gobber retorted dryly.

“There’s something odd about him. He’s… strange, and disrespectful, and disobedient, and-”

“How is that strange? Tha’s Hiccup with white hair,” Gobber interrupted, earning a sharp glare from Stoick.

“Did you know he’s been here for days already?” Stoick growled. “Hiding out in the woods on his own. And Hiccup knew about him and said nothing.”

“So, lemme get this straight,” Gobber replied, “Ye left yer son, who’s never listened to ye a day in ‘is life, alone in your hut with a forest-dwellin’ wild child, and ye expected them tah stay put? Really?”

...Gobber was right. And Stoick knew it.

“’Sides, tha’ boy’s built like the stick ‘e carries around with ‘im. Dragons or no, how much damage could ‘e possibly do?”

“What are those kids doing?”

The question, posed by Jack, prompted Hiccup to turn and watch as some of Berk’s younger residents knelt in the snow near the edge of the village, scooping up handfuls of it to put into buckets. Hiccup frowned.

“Looks like they’re clearing snow from the vegetable fields,” he said. “Honestly, it’s mostly busy work; the dragons can do a much faster job, but at least this’ll keep them occupied.”

“Well that’s no fun.”

“It’s not supposed to be. It’s supposed to keep them out of the way while the adults are rebuilding the destroyed houses.”

Hiccup jerked his head in the direction of a row of wooden skeletons, the construction taking place with surprising speed. Not a single charred building remained in the village, though there were plenty that had yet to be completely rebuilt. And the Hooligans weren’t just stopping at rebuilding the huts exactly as they had been; new coatings of paint, carvings on the doors, decorative roofs, and reliefs of dragons replaced the old structures as the vikings took advantage of the opportunity they found. But as beautiful as the new homes were shaping up to be, it was still very hard, very dangerous work. With huge men and women and dragons stomping around, carrying heavy tools and equipment and pieces of lumber, it wasn’t the ideal place for children to mill about.

((Small- wingless -soft-weak-soft- stay-here-stay-safe , )) Toothless hummed. (( Small- ones- bored-bored-booooooooooored!))

Jack agreed with Toothless; the kids looked bored out of their minds.

“Well, why don’t we take them off their parents’ hands then?” Jack said, taking a step forward without waiting for a response from Hiccup.

“Jack, wait-”

“JACK!”

Suddenly the kids’ heads popped up from the snow and one of them – a certain little girl with raven hair tied into two thick ponytails – hopped to her feet and sprinted over to Jack, arms wide. Jack stumbled as she slammed into him, but returned her hug with a warm grin on his face.

“Hey, Tory!” he said, kneeling to her eye level as she released him. He felt his hood shift as Baby Tooth moved around, peeking out of her hiding spot to greet the child. “What’re you kiddos up to?”

“Working,” Torborg answered with a pout. She fiddled with the large gloves on her hands and swayed back and forth. “Mommy said we gotta clear the snow by sundown so the dirt won’t freeze, buuuuuuuut it’s kinda boring.”

“I’ll bet,” Jack agreed. “Say, why don’t you get your friends and we’ll have some fun?”

“Jack!” Hiccup hissed, flinching and offering Torborg a nervous smile when she jolted and snapped her head towards him. In a gentler tone, he continued, “Jack, we have to get back to my hut before Dad notices we’re missing. And these kids have a job to do.”

“We can stay and play for a little bit. ‘Sides, you said it yourself, it’s just busy work.”

“That doesn’t mean their parents won’t be angry if it doesn’t get done.”

((I bet Toothless would be willing to help out!)) Baby Tooth tweeted in Jack’s ear. Her wings hummed to life, and the other children watched in awe as she flew over to the nightfury without a hint of fear. ((You want to play with us too, don’t you?))

Toothless hopped to his feet, vibrating with excitement and eagerness. Eagerness to help and especially eagerness to play. The other children, who’d been watching Torborg’s exchange with the chief's son and the weird foreigner, all scrambled to get out of the way as Toothless cleared the fence surrounding the cabbage field in a single bound, kicking up snow and sending it flying everywhere. The smallest child in the field ran straight for Jack, hiding behind him and clinging to his hoodie as he watched Toothless. Jack placed a consoling hand on Wulfric’s head.

Like he did when he was preparing to settle down for the night, Toothless poured a low flame over the ground, a continuous source of heat rather than a sudden blast. The snow hissed and melted away, hot steam rising from the soil. Toothless ran back and forth, keeping up his flame until he’d melted away every last bit of snow from the field. A nadderhead caught sight of what he was doing and after a short exchange between the two, joined in melting away the snow from the next vegetable patch. The dragons took surprising care not to char the earth or burn down the surrounding fences. Not long after a monstrous nightmare joined in as well, heating his skin without igniting, and within minutes they’d completed what would have taken the children hours.

The kids exchanged excited looks while Jack shot Hiccup a smug one.

“...Well, I guess the kids have to stay occupied somehow...”

Jack cheered and grabbed Hiccup’s wrist, dragging him along as he and the kids and even the two helpful dragons and a couple of nearby terrors ran off towards the narrow field lying between the village of Berk and the forests that dominated most of the island. It was the one place where the snow hadn’t been melted by the fire or trampled by the Hooligans and dragons. A perfect site for snowballs and fun times.

Hiccup, on the other hand, was quietly panicking. He didn’t particularly like kids. That wasn’t to say he disliked them, he just… didn’t know how to deal with them. Didn’t know how to keep them entertained, or get them to listen to what they were told, or any of that. It probably didn’t help matters that he hadn’t really had any friends at these kids’ ages.

But he was outnumbered one vættr and six little monsters and five dragons to one fish bone. Only the youngest and smallest of the bunch, Wulfric, seemed somewhat manageable, clinging to Jack’s strange tunic while the others mussed up the formerly pristine snow. And even he was eventually coaxed into joining the others at Jack’s gentle insistence, the vættr helping him and another child – a younger, though not quite as young as Wulfric, boy by the name of Fridenot – to build a spectacular snow sculpture resembling of all things a monstrous nightmare. In fact, their new nightmare friend posed for them as they built the snow dragon.

Toothless kicked up huge clouds of soft powder as he bounded across the field, causing the other children to squeal in delight as they chased him back and forth, they themselves pursued by the terrible terrors. Baby Tooth joined in, confident that they were far enough from the village that even if some of the adults happened to look their way she wouldn’t be noticed. She danced around the kids’ heads, sending spiraling gusts of frosty wind to tangle their hair and decorate their lashes with delicate snowflakes. And when Toothless started chasing her she flitted just out of reach of his paws, decorating the tips of his claws with delicate whorls of frost when they came close.

When Jack started creating icicles in his bare hands, working them perfectly into the shapes of the monstrous nightmare’s many horns, Hiccup started, looking first at the reactions of the children and then back at the village just in case someone happened to glance their way.

The children were delighted, curious and inquisitive and a little confused but ultimately enchanted by Jack’s strangeness in a way only children could be. And his glance in the village’s direction told Hiccup he had nothing to worry about. The adults could no more make out the icicles in Jack’s hands at this distance than he could make out whether any individual viking was carrying a hammer or a piece of wood.

He figured it would be a good idea to keep an eye out anyway. Just in case.

“Hey Hic, why don’t you join us?”

Turning his head back to the children at play, Hiccup found Jack staring at him, clothes covered in more frost and snow than normal and Baby Tooth hovering over his shoulder. Toothless was laying on his back in the snow, a child sitting on his belly, and both were staring at Hiccup with the same expectant look as Jack was.

“Ah, no, thanks,” Hiccup said, raising his hands and offering a weak smile. “I should probably, y’know, keep an eye out in case...” He gestured towards the village. “Just in case someone comes this way.”

Jack and Baby Tooth exchanged a sly look. One that did not bode well for the poor fish bone.

“Hey kids,” Jack began.

At once all six children were at attention, even Toothless sitting up to await instructions as the child he’d been playing with rolled off his belly, fell into the snow, and then popped up with an eager, predatory grin. With a wave of Jack's staff, suddenly, snowballs. Snowballs everywhere. Dozens of them rolling across the ground, perfectly formed, and all within the children’s reach. Even timid Wulfric wore a mischievous expression as they all bent and scooped up the projectiles.

Hiccup’s eyes went wide as Jack smirked and said, “Get ‘im.”

And like that, Hiccup was under assault. A powdery snowball smacked him in the face, the surprise more than the force taking him off of his feet and sending him into a cushion of soft snow. More followed, but suddenly Hiccup found himself enveloped by darkness as Toothless rushed to his rescue, forming a shield with his wings. Hiccup sat up, swiping the snow from his eyes in a huff, and then scrambled to his knees so he could scoop up snow to create some snowballs for himself, oblivious to the flecks of blue dancing across is vision. He may not have been able to make a pile of them with a wave of his hand like Jack, but soon enough he had himself a sizable stack.

“Toothless, open your wings,” Hiccup said, packing one snowball in his hand and rearing his hand back to throw the moment he saw sun. Toothless did as he was told-

And the two were immediately assaulted by a barrage of snowballs.

An all out war broke out after that, the monstrous nightmare and the nadderhead taking Hiccup and Toothless’s side against the children and the terrible terrors. And then there was Jack, who was liable to throw a snowball at any of them at any given time, and always made sure both sides had plenty of ammo. To his credit, he at least stayed on the ground, letting himself be as much a target as anyone else.

The dragons cried out fun and happiness and together, and before Hiccup knew it he found more joining the game. Mostly docile ones from the village – not tamed exactly, but used enough to being around humans – and curious wild ones poking their heads out of the treeline to see what was happening. Some just sat and watched, curling up in the snow to observe the game from a distance like mindful parents. Others joined in.

Soon the distinction between teams blurred together and the snowball war became a snowball free for all, the dragons kicking up clouds the stuff with their wings and tails or using their bodies as shields for the children. Hiccup marveled at the sight. It was strange but wonderful to see how gentle the dragons were with the kids, despite their massive sizes and claws and fangs. Even the monstrous nightmare, as ferocious as it looked, goff goff goffed and then gently plucked Gustav from a snowdrift when the boy found himself stuck. Setting the child on his feet, the fearsome dragon nudged him along, encouraging him back into the game.

What would it have been like, Hiccup wondered as he packed a snowball together, if Jack had come to Berk while the viking-dragon war still raged? He could have shown them this, that dragons weren’t the mindless monsters Hiccup had grown up believing they were. Maybe Hiccup wouldn’t have shot Toothless down then. Maybe he and Toothless could have become friends another way, maybe-

A thought crossed Hiccup’s mind, and the smile that had unconsciously graced his face fell.

Or maybe, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Why would Stoick have listened to Jack any more than his own son the first time he tried to show them how to make peace? Worse, what if the Stoick of back then had seen how easily Jack got along with the dragons? No, it was definitely better that Jack hadn’t come to Berk until now.

The sound of crunching snow from behind snapped Hiccup out of his thoughts. He turned, finding Astrid approaching with the twins. Ruffnut and Tuffnut bypassed him entirely, throwing themselves headfirst into the snowball fight – and within seconds getting half-buried as the dragons and children all ganged up on them – but Hiccup didn’t mind. His focus was on Astrid and as she approached he hurriedly straightened himself up and dropped his snowball in favor of brushing the ice and snow from his clothes.

“Hiccup? What are you doing out here?” she asked as she drew near, Stormfly close behind her. Without reservation she reached out and brushed more snow from his hair, the faintest pink coloring Hiccup’s cheeks as a result.

“Snowball fight,” he answered, reaching up to brush off the last of the snow. “I was just showing Jack around the village and then...” He turned and gestured vaguely. “Chaos.”

“Won’t your dad be mad?” Astrid asked. “I overheard some of the adults talking. I thought he was keeping Jack at your hut until he figured out what to do with him?”

“Well, that was the plan,” Hiccup admitted, scratching the back of his neck. “But then my dad had some chiefing to do, and the second I turned my back Jack was out the window and running down the street.”

Astrid turned her eyes out to the snowfield, watching as Jack handed Torborg a perfectly shaped snowball before directing her to throw it at one of the older kids during a moment of distraction. Torborg’s cheeks were flushed and her face was split by a silly grin and she burst out into giggles when her snowball struck her target dead on. In fact, all of the children were smiling, hearts bright despite the events of the previous day.

Maybe Jack sneaking out wasn’t such a terrible thing, but she couldn’t help but worry.

“You know there’s no way your dad hasn’t realized you’ve sneaked off by now,” she commented to Hiccup. “In fact I’m pretty sure half the village has noticed your snowball fight by now.”

Hiccup sighed. Well, at least he got to enjoy a moment of fun before his dad murdered him.

Suddenly there was a wet splat, followed by an unfamiliar shriek. Hiccup jolted and whirled around to find Astrid, wide-eyed with clumps of snow stuck to her hair. Nearby, Jack’s joyous laughter rang out.

“Hey Astrid! Having fun just watching?” he called out while Torborg and Wulfric stifled giggles at her expense. As funny as it was, Astrid was still kind of scary.

An opinion reinforced when Astrid snarled and launched herself and the vættr.

“I’m going to kill you for that!” she snarled, giving chase. Jack yelped and took off, tearing through the snow and racing around dragons and children with Astrid hot on his heels.

Despite her apparent anger, Astrid had a certain gleam in her eye. It was the look she got when she was close to pulling ahead in the Thawfest games, or when she and Stormfly nearly caught Hiccup and Toothless in the air. She was having fun. In her own, competitive, Astrid way.

Jack, for his part, seemed to be more obviously enjoying their game of chase, darting behind and around the dragons and leaping over Astrid’s head at one point when she came close to tackling him to the ground.

Seeing that even Astrid couldn’t escape Jack’s spell, Hiccup bent, scooped up another snowball, and rejoined the fray.

Mildew glowered at the sight before him. The children were meant to clear the village’s farmland by hand but they’d cheated and used their dragons. He knew. He saw the signs in the imprints left in the earth. One didn’t fight nadderheads and monstrous nightmares for years and forget the sight of their tracks.

Worse still, instead of making themselves useful some other way, the brats had run off with their revolting beasts and were goofing off while the adults were hard at work. Lip curling in disgust, Mildew watched as the young ones and dragons played together. Like they weren’t two completely different species. As if a few months ago those beasts wouldn’t have happily snapped up the defenseless children between their jaws and swallowed them down. At his side his pet sheep, Fungus, bleated while his spidery fingers curled hard into the wood of his dragon-tooth staff. The chief would hear about this…

In fact, the chief already knew about it. He knew because he was watching, unsure how to respond to the fact that the village’s young ones were playing in the snow. With dragons. A few months ago such a sight would have had Stoick questioning his sanity. It nearly did anyway, after his initial panic had ebbed away.

Upon noticing the children missing he’d feared that they had wandered off and gotten themselves lost somewhere in Berk’s dense forests, but then he’d noticed the shapes moving in the distance – not so terribly far from the village, but far enough – and then after that his fear had been that the dragons would – knowingly or not – cause the small children harm.

But as he drew near their play site he saw his fears were unwarranted. The dragons seemed fully considerate of the sheer difference in size and strength between them and the human children, their movements shockingly coordinated for what he once thought of as violent animals. On top of which, his own son was present, ensuring the children didn’t do anything to accidentally antagonize one of the great beasts. The sight of Hiccup with a bright smile on his face, having fun was… Stoick faltered mid-step, unable to come closer. Fearful now that, if he were to approach, this moment would end.

“Chief!”

And then the moment was ruined anyway, but not by Stoick. The Hooligan chief resisted the urge to scowl as one of Berk’s oldest residents approached him, pet sheep tagging along behind. Mildew was… a spirited man, some might say. Others would just call him an ass. Stoick regarded the greybeard with a stern look as he approached.

“Yes Mildew? What is it now?”

Did he sound slightly short with the man? Perhaps. Mildew liked to complain about anything and everything, and while he was rarely more than a nuisance Stoick had less patience with him than usual after his attempted stunt with the shoes. Not that Mildew seemed to notice or care as he approached Stoick with a scowl on his face.

“’What is it?’ Are you not seeing this!?” the cantankerous old man growled, jabbing his staff in the direction of the children and their dragon playmates. “The brats are shirking their duties! Worse, they’re off playing with those gods-cursed beasts! Ye’ve got to put a stop to this before one of those creatures takes things too far!”

“The young ones’ chore has been completed and the dragons are clearly taking care not to harm them,” Stoick replied, raising his hand to cut Mildew off as the man began to argue once more. “There’s no need to-”

“No need!? ” the old man howled. “Those wild animals could have ravaged our farmland, and then where would that’ve left us!?”

“But clearly, they didn’t,” Stoick growled, reaching up to attempt to massage his building headache away. “There’s no point in getting upset abut something that didn’t happen, Mildew.”

A sharp edge to Stoick’s tone gave Mildew some pause, but only some. After a moment’s hesitation he opened his mouth to resume arguing-

THWAP!

-and was promptly knocked off of his feet by a snowball flying right at his head, followed shortly after by the manic, cackling laughter of the Thorston twins. Stoick turned to find both of them standing not far away, each poised to hurl more snowballs in Mildew’s and the chief’s direction. They froze as Stoick's brows furrowed.

Ruffnut reacted first, stuffing her snowball down the back of her brother’s tunic and shouting, “SHE DID IT!” before shoving him into the snow and sprinting off, abandoning Tuffnut to his fate. Tuffnut pulled his face from the snow, frozen mucus trailing down to his upper lip, and then took off after her.

Stoick barely registered those two knuckleheads. For once, they were the lesser of two evils. At least they’d shut Mildew up.

Out of the corner of his eye, Stoick noticed a head of dark hair approaching. Turning, he found Hiccup standing near him, a sheepish expression on his face and snow clinging to his clothes and hair.

“Hey… dad.” Hiccup forced an uncomfortable smile. “So, uh, we might have left the hut for a few minutes. You know, get some fresh air, check out the village…”

Stoick stared down at Hiccup, his unconvinced expression not quite hidden behind the mountain of hair on his face.

“...Start a snowball war.”

Stoick raised an eyebrow.

“….Hey, is Mildew okay?”

“With any luck, no,” Stoick grumbled under his breath before saying to Hiccup, “He’s fine. Where’s the foreigner?”

“Uh, he’s...” Turning around, Hiccup scanned the snowfield for a head of white hair, which he found being held in a headlock by Astrid. Both were laughing and neither noticed Stoick standing nearby. “Right over there, Astrid’s got him.”

Stoick looked in the direction Hiccup was pointing, blinked, and then simply nodded.

“Should have had her watch him.”

Hiccup shrugged and said, “Yeah, probably.” Turning back to his father, he continued, “Look, I’m sorry we slipped out. It’s just… I think Jack prefers being outdoors. He looked pretty miserable, and I figured as long as I kept an eye on him it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

Stoick sighed. He should probably still be angry, or at least annoyed, but it was difficult to be at this point. Gobber was right, he shouldn't have expected his son to stay quietly shut indoors all day.

Still, they'd had their fun. Now was time for serious matters.

"Boy! Jack!"

Jack's and Astrid's movements came to a halt. She released him and both spun around towards the chief, Astrid's eyes going wide and cheeks flushing with embarrassment at being caught childishly playing. Stoick gestured them over and was pleasantly surprised when Jack actually responded. He was less pleased with what he noticed as Jack walked over.

"Thor's sake boy! Do you even know what boots are?"

Jack glanced down at his feet, then fixed Stoick with an annoyed look of his own.

"No, I've never heard of boots in my life, what are boots?"

Stoick… did not know how to respond to that.

Fortunately for him, before the children could see their chief falter, the old man in the snow groaned. Mildew cradled his head as he pulled himself up, blinking blearily. Then his eyes shot open wide.

"GYAH!"

He nearly stumbled over his pet sheep as he scrambled to his feet, gasping and jabbing his finger at the young foreigner even as the boy tilted his head in confusion.

"Wh-what!? What in Thor's name is this!?" he cried, ignoring Fungus's startled bleats.

Jack glanced around, looking first to Astrid and Hiccup while the children had gone quiet and still. The dragons, noticing the young ones' discomfort, turned towards the cause, ready to defend. Toothless was at Hiccup's side in an instant, covered in powdery snow that crumbled and rolled off of his scales with every movement.

"Am I a 'this' now?" Jack asked, pointing at himself. Stoick didn't overlook the flash of fear across his son's face, or the way he and Astrid both moved towards the foreigner's side. For his part, the foreign boy appeared more irritated than afraid, leaning his staff against his shoulder as he regarded the greybeard lazily.

"Mildew, go make a nuisance of yourself somewhere else," Stoick growled. "The foreigner is under my care, he doesn't concern you."

"Under your- Why is he even here!? He ought to be locked up somewhere!"

"Rude," the boy said.

Hiccup looked to Stoick, and it pained him that he could see the uncertainty in his son's eyes; some part of Hiccup thought he might actually take the old man's side on this.

"Even if I was in the habit of imprisoning children," Stoick said, "this boy aided us against the Outcasts. I'll not punish him for that."

Hiccup's shoulders sagged in relief. Jack's eyes shot up, staring openly at Stoick.

"Child or not, he's a foreigner who appeared on our island in the midst of an attack!" Mildew cried, earning a growl from Toothless as he swung his staff around. "And besides that, there's clearly something abnormal about this boy. Look at that hair!"

Jack reached up, running his fingers through his messy locks.

"What's wrong with my hair?"

Stoick would admit, he wondered about that as well. But unusual coloring was hardly a condemnation.

"Jack isn't a threat to anyone on Berk," Hiccup insisted. "Look at him; he's not even carrying a weapon."

"I mean, I have a stick," Jack pointed out.

"Not helping."

"It's a stick."

Astrid glared at Mildew, stepped forward and said, "Why would we listen to anything you have to say after you tried to frame our dragons?"

The old man sputtered, face turning an ugly purple as he choked on his anger. He turned to Stoick, beady eyes begging the only other adult in the conversation to take his side.

"Enough, Mildew." He pointed back towards the village. "If you have enough energy to try to stir up trouble, why don't you put that energy to use helping rebuild the village?"

Mildew's eyes went wide for a moment, and then narrowed in a petulant glare, nearly disappearing under those large, fuzzy brows. Grumbling like a scolded child, he turned and stalked off towards the village, Fungus following at his heel. Hiccup sighed in relief and Jack stuck his tongue out at the old man's back until Astrid drove her elbow into his arm.

"For the record-" The sudden reappearance of the Thorston twins drew eyes, not least of all because as the sister spoke, she did so with her voice pitched, adopting an outrageous accent. "-the white hair is most likely caused by a melanin deficiency."

Stoick fixed the twins with a hard stare.

"What in Thor's name are you two on about now?"

"Melanin," Tuffnut clarified. Mimicking his sister's accent, he strolled leisurely back and forth, hands clasped behind his back as he stared off into the sky as though deep in thought."A substance found both in humans and animals that gives color to our hair, skin, and eyes."

His sister picked up where he left off.

"In rare cases some individuals are incapable of producing normal amounts of melanin," she said. "The melanin deficiency thus results in unusual coloration, notably extremely pale skin and white or very light blonde hair."

Stoick, Hiccup, Astrid, and Jack all stared, identical blank expressions. Then Jack shattered the awkward silence with a bubbling laugh. Stoick released an exasperated sigh.

"Alright, playtime's over." To the children he called out, "Back to your parents, all of you. If they don't have any chores for you to do then off to the Great Hall."

There were some 'aw's and pouts as the children did exactly as they were told. There was a moment's pity, but even as gentle as the dragons were, Stoick didn't want the young ones playing outside of the village with them without the watchful eyes of an adult. He turned his attention to Astrid and the twins.

"You three," he said, gesturing to each of them in turn. "Return to your families. I'm sure they'll need all of the hands they can get."

The twins started to protest, but one glare from Stoick silenced them. They exchanged a glance with one another, shrugged, and ran off. Most likely not to rejoin their clan. Astrid hung back a moment, long enough to say her goodbyes to Hiccup and the foreigner, and then she was off as well.

And then it was just Stoick and the boys. He looked down at them, clothes and hair tousled and covered in snow from play. Hiccup's cheeks and nose had gone bright red. He trembled faintly from the cold. Jack… did not. Stoick frowned as he brushed the snow from his boy's vest, and from his hair.

"Next time you want to run off and play in the snow, at least bring a cloak," he chided. Hiccup cracked a weak smile. "You'll need to sit by the fire, both of y-"

As he reached for Jack, to brush the snow from him as well, the boy flinched. He leaned back, brows furrowing as he fixed Stoick with a hard look. Stoick frowned.

"...Let's just get you boys inside and warmed up."

A cold wind blew across Berk as night fell. Much progress had been made, but most people were still without houses so for the time being the Great Hall was housing most of Berk's residents.

Spirits were high, all around. The lit braziers filled the hall with a warm glow, the smell of roasting meat and ale wafted through the air. The sounds of drums and pipes echoed, men bellowing out songs of sailing and adventuring as a few excitable dragons joined in their chorus. The children gathered together, bright and cheery in spite of the previous day's events, chattering excitedly over their meals and quietly slipping bits of meat under the tables for a few naughty terrors they'd managed to sneak inside.

The Haddock household, by contrast, was uncomfortably quiet. Aside from the crackle of flames in the fire pit and the distant hum of voices from the Great Hall, the only sound to reach Hiccup's ears was Toothless's slurping up the trout in his feeding basket by the mouthful. Nervously, he glanced between Jack and his father. The three of them sat around the fire pit, a cauldron of yak stew bubbling between them. To make up for the lack of extra chairs, Jack had been provided a barrel to sit on. He sat atop the container cross legged, staff thrown across his lap, and stared across the fire pit at Stoick. Stoick stared right back, eyes narrowed as he appraised the white-haired stranger. Hiccup swore he hadn't seen either of them blink once.

"So, uh…" At this rate he was going to drown in the silence. "I think the stew's ready, if anyone's hungry?"

For a moment, it seemed like they hadn't even heard him. But then Stoick broke eye contact. He lifted the ladle from the chain it hung from and reached for one of the three wooden bowls set out. Hiccup accepted the warm bowl of stew his father fixed, and then turned to pass it off to Jack as Stoick filled the next one. Only, Jack held up a hand, leaning back in his seat.

"No… That's okay, I'm not hungry."

Stoick's gaze shot up from the second bowl.

"Lad, you've been hiding out in the woods for, what, three days now? You need to eat something."

"No, really," Jack insisted. "There are lots of wild fruits and stuff in the woods."

"You can't live off of fruits. Strong bodies require lots of meat, especially at your age."

"Jack." Hiccup held the bowl out to Jack, doing his best to plead with him through his eyes alone to just cooperate, just this once. "My dad's right, you need to eat something filling."

For a moment Jack looked like he wanted to argue further. But, thankfully, wordlessly, he took the bowl and the wooden spoon Hiccup handed over with it. As he accepted his own bowl, guilt gnawed at Hiccup's stomach. Maybe he should have been bringing Jack food these past few days. But if the vættr was going hungry, he didn't show it, staring down at the yak stew with a barely concealed grimace and pushing around the floating chunks of meat and vegetable with his spoon.

Now that he thought about it, did Jack even need to eat?

A rap at the front door interrupted his musings. Stoick's spoon – halfway from the stew to his mouth – clattered noisily in the bowl as he dropped it with an irritated huff and slammed the bowl down on a side table. Two sets of eyes followed him as he rose from his chair and went to answer the door, grumbling as he did. The moment his back was turned Jack dropped his spoon as well.

"Hey, Toothless," he whispered, holding his bowl out. That was all the invitation the night fury needed. Hiccup didn't even get a second to think to protest before his dragon bounded over and lapped up the contents of the bowl in one swipe of his tongue, leaving nothing behind but globs of dragon saliva.

Hiccup fixed Jack with a dry look.

"Really?"

Jack shrugged as he set the bowl in his lap and gave Toothless a head scratch as a reward. Toothless cooed in pleasure, leaning into the touch.

"Don't encourage him, Toothless," Hiccup scolded.

"Jack!" The sound of Stoick's voice actually caused Jack to jump. Hiccup as well, stew sloshing onto his sleeve as he did. "There's someone at the door for you."

Jack turned to Hiccup, but he didn't know what to tell his new friend. He couldn't imagine who would ask for him either. Hiccup set his bowl aside and he and Jack made their way to the front door, where Stoick was greeting their visitor.

"Mrs. Kristiansen?" Hiccup offered his neighbor a polite, if somewhat confused, smile. "What are you doing here?"

Dagmar Kristiansen had a warm smile on her face, which was a rare sight ever since her baby girl had been labeled 'Magnus.' In her arms she held a bundle of blue cloth, and a pair of fur-lined boots.

"I wanted to thank the young man who made my little girl smile," she said, eyes landing on Jack. "Your clothes; they aren't suited to this cold. My son outgrew these a long time ago." She shoved the bundle into his hands. "I'd like you to have them."

Jack's eyes went wide. He tried to hand them back to her.

"I- I can't take these-"

He jolted at a light touch between his shoulder blades. Stoick gave him a light nudge; between his strength and Jack's size that nudge nearly sent the boy tumbling forward.

"That's very kind of you, Dagmar," Stoick said. "It's much appreciated."

"It's no trouble!" Dagmar beamed. Reaching forward, she brushed at the whorls of frost clinging to his current cloth, sending crystalline flakes fluttering to the ground. "I just wanted to make sure you got these tonight, since I'll be leaving on that fishing trip bright and early in the morn. You're too thin to be running about in this cold so lightly dressed. You need to take care of yourself, understand?"

"Uh…"

"Well, I'll leave you three to your supper. Feel free to visit whenever you'd like, young man. I'm sure my Hildegarde would be delighted to see you again!"

At a loss for words, Jack could only nod.

She hardly seemed to mind, however, and left immediately after Hiccup and Stoick bid her goodnight.

"Are you okay?"

Hiccup had practically scarfed his stew down, and as soon as his bowl was empty excused himself to his room along with Jack. Even up on his loft he was wary about speaking too freely, not wanting to risk Stoick overhearing anything. He spoke quietly, listening for his father's movements downstairs.

Jack stood near the foot of his bed, staff held to his chest as he stared down at the bundle of clothes Dagmar had left him with an unreadable expression. At Hiccup's question his head snapped up, eyes landing on the viking sitting atop the furs on his bed. Hiccup had removed his prosthetic but let his stump dangle over the side of the bed. Toothless lay curled atop his own stone slab while his tail was draped across the floor, remaining fin lightly brushing Hiccup's bare skin.

"Hm?" Jack blinked, not quite processing Hiccup's words. On his shoulder Baby Tooth tweeted, repeating the question for him. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Because I don't know about vættir, but when a human spends ten minutes staring at a pile of clothes that usually means something's up," Hiccup replied dryly, earning a snort from Jack.

"Fair enough." Jack's smile shifted, a wistful gleam in his eyes. "It's just… kind of weird having people trying to… I dunno. It reminded me of some friends from back home."

Hiccup stared at him, expectantly. That was the first hint Jack had ever dropped about his home, and Hiccup latched onto it eagerly.

"What about your family?"

"I don't have one," Jack answered. "Except for Baby Tooth."

The little fairy tweeted proudly, nuzzling her cheek against Jack's. Hiccup felt his heart sink.

"I'm sorry…"

The corners of Jack's lips twitched upwards.

"It's fine, that's just how it's always been." His eyes flicked to the stairs, for just a moment. Stoick's light, whistling snores sounded downstairs. "Ever since I was created."

"Then… What about your home? I know you live in another realm, but what about a house, or a temple or…?"

Jack shook his head.

"Anywhere and everywhere, I guess. I go where the wind takes me. I'm a weather spirit; it comes with the territory."

That sounded… amazing, if Hiccup were being perfectly honest. How freeing would it be to be able to go where he pleased, flying from place to place without any restrictions or attachments? But also, how incredibly lonely. Hiccup shifted his leg, nudging Toothless's tail gently. Toothless hummed and nudged Hiccup back.

"What are your friends like?"

"They're a bunch of weirdos," Jack answered fondly. "I haven't actually known them personally for very long, and they all live so far apart we hardly ever all get together. Most of them seem to think I should settle down somewhere or other and I only just got them to give up on the idea of getting me to sleep in a bed before I got sent here..."

A low trill rose from Baby Tooth as Jack trailed off. For a moment Hiccup thought his eyes seemed a bit shinier than usual but he blinked and it was gone.

"Anyway," Jack continued, chipper as ever, "I just started thinking about them, that's all. And I guess I got a little lost in thought."

If he hadn't removed his prosthetic already, Hiccup would have been sorely tempted to stand and reach for Jack. To place a hand on his shoulder, offer some comfort. Perhaps it was a good thing he couldn't right at that moment; the last thing he wanted to do was startle his house guest.

But Toothless, as though sensing Hiccup's thoughts, had no such reservations. He rose gracefully from his slate bed, tail sliding against Hiccup's leg as he turned and padded quietly over towards Jack. A low croon in his throat, he butted his head against Jack's hand and was rewarded with a gentle stroke.

"You must miss them a lot."

Jack's eyes remained on Toothless.

"...Yeah." His finger trailed to the underside of Toothless's chin, scratching that spot he loved just behind his nubs. The night fury craned his neck, giving Jack more access to that spot, and whined when Jack pulled his hand away. "Well, I think it's time for you two to call it a night. Same time tomorrow?"

"Wait!" Toothless was at Hiccup's side in an instant as he rose to his foot, allowing his rider to lean against his head for support while he grabbed the bundle. Jack paused, halfway to the hatch opposite Hiccup's bed, and turned to face them. "Aren't you going to take your clothes?"

"No, well…" He twisted the staff in his hand. "I obviously don't need them, considering-" He gestured to all of himself. "-and I don't really have a way to pay her back, so…"

"They were a gift; she wanted you to have them," Hiccup argued. "Besides, wearing them could make it easier for you to pass as human. People won't wonder why you aren't cold if you're warmly dressed. Or, wait… Would you overheat if you wore warm clothes?"

"Nah, nothing like that," Jack laughed. "Okay, point taken. Guess it wouldn't hurt to try to blend in."

Baby Tooth chirped at him as he stepped forward to accept the clothes from Hiccup, though he pointedly did not take the boots. Hiccup decided to just take what he could get and dropped them at the side of his bed.

"Too bad it's not hooded," Jack said as he thumbed through the layers of dark blue and grey fabric in his hands. "We'll have to figure out another way for you to hide."

"What about a purse?" Hiccup suggested. "We might have an extra one laying around somewhere."

Jack looked to Baby Tooth, who twittered so fast that Hiccup couldn't imagine those sounds were actual words. But whatever he thought, Jack seemed perfectly able to understand her.

"That could work," the vættr said. "Let's try it out tomorrow."

Clothes in hand, he started for the hatch once more.

"You're really sleeping out in the woods again, huh?"

"You want me frosting up the inside of your house?" Jack asked with a laugh. To prove his point, he called the wind through the open window, floating from the loft to perch on the windowsill. The candle flames danced in the breeze and goose flesh rose across Hiccup's arms at the chill. "Besides, I don't actually sleep."

"You… huh?"

"Don't worry about it too much. You just get your rest, kiddo. Don't let him stay up all night, Toothless."

The night fury chuffed in agreement and Hiccup couldn't help but wonder when his dragon turned into his mother.

"Well, even if you don't sleep… Good night. You too, Baby Tooth."

The little fairy tilted her head, regarded him for a moment. But then she chirped at him and it sounded… not unkind, so maybe they were okay with each other now. Jack rose to his full height, leaning back against the wind.

"Same time tomorrow!"

And then he and Baby Tooth were carried off on a powerful gust. The inside of the hut fell quiet, the wind going still. With Toothless's support, Hiccup hopped over to his bed, relieved to be off his foot once more as he plopped down on the soft furs. He crossed his stump over his knee, pulling up the fabric so he could knead the flesh sore from wearing his prosthetic for so long. With his rider deposited on the bed, Toothless stretched out, and then his eyes flew wide. Hiccup froze as Toothles hacked, throat undulating, and then his nose wrinkled in disgust when the dragon's maw parted and he dropped a slime-coated wooden spoon right there on the rejected boots.

Downstairs Stoick snored soundly, body and mind thoroughly exhausted by the events of the past two days, despite the questions swirling around in his head. He would not sleep so soundly again for a while.

Chapter Text

Hiccup watched intently as pale, dexterous fingers worked coarse, woolen yarn in even stitches through the head of what was emerging to be a rather splendidly made plush dragon toy. Its shape, Hiccup noticed, vaguely resembled Toothless's, if a bit softer and, well, cuddlier. Why Jack had decided to make it white was anyone's guess.

The sun was setting on Berk and Hiccup and Jack were, as they had every evening for the past two weeks since the Outcast attack, sitting in the snow-filled clearing – now dubbed the Winter Cove by the dragon riders – leaning against a fallen log while Hiccup sketched and Jack sewed. Nearby Toothless and Baby Tooth were playing in the snow, the frost-fairy creating spiraling tendrils of ice over its surface while Toothless tried to trace them with the splintered end of a discarded tree branch. This had become something of a habit for them, as had Jack's routine visits to not only the Dragon Training Academy but to the village of Berk itself. He was becoming a familiar sight to the villagers, particularly the children who would crowd around him and beg for him to tell them stories or play games with him the moment they saw his white hair in the distance.

Stoick still didn’t seem to be quite sure what to make of Jack. Hiccup was fairly sure his father didn’t dislike the white-haired boy, but the way he looked at Jack sometimes was almost eerie, as though he were staring at a ghost. More than once Hiccup had tried to question his father on the strange, haunted look in his eyes, only to find the words sticking to the back of his throat like bile.

"There, done." Jack's voice suddenly snapped Hiccup from his thoughts. Setting aside the bone needle he held up the white nightfury for inspection. "What do you think?"

"It looks great," Hiccup replied. It did look wonderful, the stitches nice and even and the silver clasps that served as eyes sparkling in the slowly waning light. "Torborg's gonna love it."

Jack beamed at the praise. He’d only made a few toys before, always under the guidance of North. The Guardian of Wonder had practically burst with enthusiasm when Jack first expressed an interest in toy making, and had served as a wonderful mentor as he taught Jack how to sculpt and sew. A wave of nostalgia hit Jack. He wondered if the Guardians were doing all right.

"We should probably get back soon," Hiccup said abruptly. He pulled himself to his feet, brushing the snow off of his pants as he did. He held out a hand to help Jack to his feet only to find that the spirit was already standing, returning the needle and leftover yarn to the leather purse on his hip and tucking the toy under his arm.

After the initial panic was over and the injured were taken care of, Hildegarde's mother had insisted on getting Jack into what she deemed to be 'proper' clothes. The spirit was now dressed in a dark blue woolen tunic lined with rabbit-fur for extra warmth and just a tad too big for him. Crystals of frost already clung to the coarse material, no doubt something over which Jack had no control, and the well-meaning mother had long since given up trying to brush it off. Jack's worn, deerskin trousers had been replaced with a pair of baggy, woolen breeches and a pair of fingerless rabbit-fur gauntlets now protected his hands, though Jack still refused to wear even a pair of slippers.

The clothes suited him, Hiccup thought, even if they were a bit too large and made him seem just a bit smaller and frailer. He was pretty sure the clothes were hand-me-downs from Hildegarde’s oldest brother, who now stood closer to Stoick’s height than Jack’s.

"Ready when you are," Jack said, retrieving his staff from its resting place in the snow. "Baby Tooth! C'mon, we're headed back to the village now!"

"Toothless! Time to go home, bud!"

A cloud of white powder erupted from the snowbank where Baby Tooth had half-buried Toothless as the nightfury popped to his feet, head tilting downward as his large eyes looked up at his rider, head-fins and wings drooping. Baby Tooth fixed Jack with an equally pathetic look, lower lip trembling as she clasped her tiny hands together.

((Aaaw, just five more minutes?))

((Happy-happy-fun-play-more-play-streeeeetch!))

"No, Toothless," Hiccup scolded, immune to the unholy-offspring-of-lightning-and-death-itself's puppy dog eyes. "We can come back and play tomorrow, but right now it's time to go home. Aren't you hungry for dinner anyways?"

Toothless stood, shoulders and hips rotating as he shook and sending snow flying everywhere. He left huge, sloppy footprints in the snow as he bounded over to Hiccup's side, tail wagging eagerly and tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.

"Hey Baby Tooth," Jack called over his shoulder as Hiccup mounted Toothless, "I bet Astrid'll be there."

The frost-fairy was perched on top of Toothless's head a moment later, chirping excitedly and pointing skyward. With a chuckle Jack climbed onto the saddle behind Hiccup, wrapping his staff-arm around the brunette's waist while the other held the newly-made dragon toy against his chest.

"Ready," he said, leaning just the slightest bit over Hiccup's shoulder so the other boy could hear him.

Hiccup nodded, ignoring the way his stomach tightened uncomfortably when he felt Jack's icy breath on his ear.

"Ready bud?" Hiccup shifted his prosthetic in the stirrup. In response, the nightfury's wings shot out. "Let's go!"

The four of them took the long way back to the village, enjoying the world above the clouds as only they could in the waning sunlight. Hiccup pretended his heart wasn’t beating faster than usual.

Stoick heard his son's approach before he saw the boy, alerted to Hiccup's presence by the rippling sound of massive wings beating the air. Moments later a black shadow was dropping from the sky in front of their house, two scrawny youths atop its back.

"Hi Dad!"

Stoick looked up, hand still on his dragon’ muzzle as he nodded to his son in greeting.

"Hello there son. Jack."

"Hi Stoick!" Jack said as he slid from Toothless's saddle, feet, as always, bare of any boots. How the boy still had all of his toes was beyond the Hooligan chief. "Hi big guy! How are you?"

The thunderdrum hummed in its wide throat, staring at Jack with the sort of soft expression that didn’t suit its ferocious appearance. In an instant Jack was kneeling next to the cobalt-scaled thunderdrum Stoick had only recently tamed, smiling brightly and stroking the feral dragon's wide snout. The boy was certainly a strange one, Stoick thought, having no natural fear of dragons despite having only come to their island a few short weeks ago. But the children had taken to him and he’d fought alongside the Hooligans during the Outcast incursion, so the chief was willing to overlook Jack's oddness.

Still, there were certain things about Jack that unnerved him.

"What is that?" he asked gruffly, gesturing to the white wool-and-straw figure tucked under Jack's arm.

"Huh? Oh, this?" Jack held the stuffed dragon up for the chief to see plainly. "I made it for Tory, you know, since she lost her lamb. Think she'll like it?"

Hiccup fidgeted nervously as his father fixed Jack with a long, hard stare. There it was again, that haunted expression.

"It's very nice," Stoick said finally. "I'm sure she'll love it."

"Okay then!" Hiccup said, stepping between Jack and his father. "We're going to grab dinner now. See you in the Great Hall, all right? All right."

Before the other boy had a chance to protest Hiccup had grabbed hold of his wrist and was tugging him down the hill towards the Great Hall, Toothless following close behind.

"Hiccup!" Stoick called after his son's retreating figure. "Don't forget, Trader Johann's pulling in tomorrow!"

"I won't forget! See you later!"

"Who's Trader Johann?"

Upon entering the Great Hall, Jack and Hiccup had found the rest of Berk's dragon trainers already gathered around a wooden table near the entrance, talking animatedly about nothing in particular and leaving most of their plates half-finished. They had joined the group immediately, sitting side-by-side and Jack helping himself to the leftover vegetables without complaint from the others.

"He's this really awesome traveler who sails between the islands and sometimes even far-off places like the mainland," Fishlegs explained, bouncing eagerly in his seat. "He always brings back the most amazing things; books, relics, tales-"

"Freaky animals and statues and crap," Tuffnut cut him off. "Last time he came here I got an eyeball in a jar."

Jack’s lips quirked upwards.

"Gross."

"You should come see him with us tomorrow," Astrid suggested. She sat across from Hiccup, playing with Baby Tooth and letting the frost-fairy eat from her plate. "I think you'll like him; he's the adventurous type, like you, and he really does bring the coolest things."

"I don't have any money," Jack replied through a mouthful of cabbage.

"Well he takes trades too," Hiccup offered.

"I don't really have anything to trade either. You know what I was wearing when we met? That is literally everything that I own."

The dragon riders exchanged awkward looks. Well, most of them.

"Ha, broke..." Snotlout laughed into his mug, thinking himself inconspicuous. His mead ended up all over the front of his tunic when Astrid punched him in the back of the head. Jack laughed, but didn’t know why she bothered. It wasn’t like it bothered him at all.

"Still, you should come," Hiccup said, ignoring his cousin. "Sometimes Trader Johann gives away things for free, and even if he doesn't he has amazing stories to share."

Jack thought about it as he chewed slowly through a piece of days-old bread, hardly noticing the musty taste.

"Okay, I'll come see Trader Johann. What time should we meet?"

"Well, it's hard to know when exactly he'll come," Fishlegs explained. "Assuming the conditions tomorrow are good he should be arriving pretty early."

"So, what? We just hang around on the docks until he shows up?"

"Pretty much."

The seven teens, their dragons, and Baby Tooth – hidden inside the leather purse on Jack's belt – stuck to the plaza for much of the next morning. To the annoyance of most of the group, several children had flocked around them, mostly vying for Jack's attention but also pestering the others with questions about dragon training and flying. Torborg was among them, squeezing her new stuffed dragon to her chest with one arm and holding Wulfric's hand with the other. In between keeping an eye on their dragons and keeping an eye on the children, the group barely had time to watch the horizon in search of Trader Johann's sailing vessel. Jack had asked the Wind to blow favorably for the merchant and she responded in kind, becoming a strong gale that would fill the trading ship's sails and carry it swiftly to Berk.

The first notice they had that Trader Johann had arrived was Bucket's voice rising from the docks.

"Trader Johann's here! Trader Johann's here!"

People from all over the island rushed to the docks, some shoving and pushing others out of the way as they scrambled to be the first to visit the merchant's ship. Hiccup stuck close to Jack, worried about him getting lost in the crowd.

It took a few minutes for the merchant to lower his gangplank, as he did so manually, but once he was finished he greeted the vikings with open arms and a warm smile.

"Ah, Berk! My favorite of all the islands I travel to."

Though the merchant vessel looked much the same as the longboats used by the Hooligans, Jack was surprised to learn that Trader Johann looked almost nothing like the people of Berk at all, his dark beard slicked with fish oil, his long, pointy mustache jutting out several inches beyond either side of his face, his skin olive-hued, and his features thin and long.

"Where have you been this time, Trader Johann?" Bucket asked, eyes brimming with excitement as he bounced on the balls of his feet like an overexcited young boy.

"Oh, Bucket," Trader Johann greeted the addled viking warmly. "The things I've seen, the people I've met! I'd need a week to regale you, but, alas, we have limited time to conduct our business together."

'Well, he's certainly a natural salesman,' Jack thought as he climbed aboard the ship after Bucket.

Climbing atop a pedestal built into the deck of his ship, Trader Johann stretched his arms out to the men and women still waiting on the pier and cried, "Whatever it is you're looking for, I assure you, you'll find it here!"

As though a dam had burst, the people of Berk flooded Johann's ship, the dragon riders piling on first and Toothless sticking close to Hiccup's side even in the tight space.

"It's all mine! I call dibs on everything!" Snotlout was putting his hands on everything he set his eyes on.

"Is that moving? Does that one move? Wha!"

"Ooh, look at this!"

"How beautiful!"

"Trader Johann!" Fishlegs approached the merchant, a thin, leather-bound tome in his hands. "Is this your only book on botany?"

"Yes, Mister Fishlegs. Why, it was given to me by the author himself!"

Fishlegs beamed, looping his thick fingers under a twine he wore around his neck and drawing from under his tunic a necklace adorned with three, pointed fangs.

"Will you take this necklace? It's made from baby dragon's teeth!"

"Fair enough, Mister Fishlegs!" Johann held out his open hand, fingers curling over the elegantly pointed teeth as they fell into his palm.

"Whoo!" Snotlout said, gazing dreamily into the surface of a disc of polished silver. "I'm even better looking than I thought!"

Unable to resist, Jack looked up from the garment in his hands, threw Snotlout a smirk, and said, "I didn't know you had such a low opinion of yourself."

Fixing Jack with a glare, Snotlout had just opened his mouth to retort when Johann stepped between them.

"Now that's an interesting piece," the trader said, indicating the white, wolf-fur cloak Jack had been inspecting. It was beautifully made with a silver, crescent moon-shaped clasp holding it together at the throat and a hood with the wolf's ears still attached. A mask was attached to the hood where the muzzle would be, made with polished red wood and nearly featureless save for thee perfect black circles that served as eyes and a mouth. "You know, I got that from the northern tribes, who believe these masks imbue them with the strength of the spirits themselves."

"That's interesting.” Jack bit back the urge to laugh before putting the mask down. If only he knew. "It looks cool, anyway."

"Would you like to trade for it? I am open to bargaining."

"Nah," Jack replied, shaking his head. "I’m just looking."

"I could get it for you." Both Jack and Trader Johann turned to Hiccup, standing only a few feet away with a small clay pot in the palm of his hand. Indicating the satchel resting at his hip he said, "I brought a few things to trade."

"No, that's okay," Jack replied. "I don't really need it; it would be a bit warm for me anyway."

Johann threw Jack a brief glance, brow perked curiously, before turning his gaze back to Hiccup.

"Ooh, that's pure squid ink, Hiccup," he exclaimed, rolling his shoulders a bit conspicuously. "Wrestled from the colossal squid of the northern waters."

Hiccup dug his fingers into his satchel, withdrawing a small spyglass and holding it out to the seafarer. "Well, how about this spyglass? You know I made it myself."

"I know, you've given me five just like it," Johann replied with a genial laugh. Still, he took the device and inspected it before handing it back to Hiccup. Again, he rolled his shoulders, this time reaching up to knead the aching flesh with his fingers, and Jack found himself wondering how Johann wrestled a colossal squid when his shoulders hurt that badly. "Sadly, I've only got the two eyes. What else have you got?"

"What do you think of this winch?" Hiccup asked as he handed Johann the hand-made wooden device from his satchel. "Hey, it'll help you pull up your gangplank."

Trader Johann smiled as he accepted the device, turning the wheel with his finer and watching the attached rope coil around its shaft.

A welcome tool for a working man's ailing shoulder! Consider it done!"

As Trader Johann turned to store the winch somewhere safe until he was ready to use it, Hiccup caught sight of his father holding a southern-style sword, giving the blade several mighty practice swings and – if Hiccup saw that correctly – slicing through one of the bits on the dock.

"Oh wow, another sword," he commented with a roll of his eyes. "Just what we need."

"If you must know, it's not for me," Stoick growled as he balanced the hilt of the blade on his finger. "I'm heading off to my yearly meeting with the chief of the Shivering Shores. The last man to show up without a gift left without a head."

"Sounds like a charming guy," Jack commented.

Ignoring Jack, Stoick turned to Trader Johann. "Johann! What will you take in trade?"

"Stoick!" Johann exclaimed, beaming at the chief and ignoring the deep slashes the sword had left in his mast. "It is but your good graces that I desire when my humble ship passes through Berk!"

Stoick replied with a hearty chuckle.

"You'll always be welcome on our shores," he said as he fixed the blade to his belt. He turned, climbing out of the tiny trading vessel and onto the dock where his thunderdrum was waiting for him. "I'll be back in five days.” A slight pause. “What am I sayin'? I'll be back in two! Thanks to Thornado!"

The thunderdrum, now dubbed Thornado, hummed contentedly as he felt his rider's familiar weight on his back. As soon as Stoick was settled Thornado jumped to his feet, wings flapping eagerly as he urged his rider to take off.

"So, you finally named him?" Hiccup asked, smiling at the pair. "Thornado, huh?"

"That's right! Because he has the power of Thor, and the ferocity of a tornado!" Stoick explained, tugging lightly on his partner's reigns as he tried to calm the temperamental dragon. "And besides, it's the only thing he'll answer to. Turns out he can be quite stubborn!"

Jack and Hiccup exchanged sly looks.

"Can't imagine where he gets that from," Hiccup whispered.

"Up Thornado!"

And like that, they were gone, the thunderdrum-rider pair vanishing into the sky with a roar like booming thunder as they flew towards the Shivering Shores. Trader Johann watched, a sense of wonder washing over him as he stared at the viking chief with his dragon.

"Ah, men riding dragons. What a magnificent sight."

It was, but unfortunately, the magnificent sight was lost on some people.

"Johann!" a crackling voice called over the waves.

"Mildew!" Johann cried, turning to face the old hermit with a friendly smile.

Jack fixed the hermit with a glare; though he’d never had a proper conversation with the man, Mildew had decided fairly quickly that Jack did not belong on Berk. He also made a point of telling Stoick at least once a day, every day, that Jack should be cast off the island or executed.

"C'mon," Hiccup whispered, placing a hand on Jack's back and urging him towards the back of the boat. "Just ignore him."

Mildew was easily ignoring them.

"Did you bring what I want?" he snapped at the trader without so much as a greeting.

"Always straight to the point! I like that." Johann laughed, placing his hand atop a stack of reed-woven baskets and tilting the lid of the top one back just enough for Mildew to peer inside at their contents. "I assume you brought my cabbage?"

Rather than answering, Mildew used his dragon-tooth staff to indicate the basket laying on the deck of Johann's ship. The basket was filled with green, leafy cabbage heads, their foliage still wet from the spring water Mildew had used to wash them before piling them in his cart and bringing them all the way down to the docks from his hut far outside the village.

Johann eagerly scooped up the basket into his arms, inhaling the fresh, aromatic scent of the greens while Mildew barked at him to, "Take these to my house!" indicating the baskets with his staff. Never dropping his friendly demeanor, Johann nodded, setting the cabbage aside while Mildew shuffled off of his ship.

The trader started when he heard a high-pitched squeak and a scuttling sound behind him. Whirling around he found a terrible terror with sky-blue scales clinging to one of Mildew's baskets, snuffling at the lid curiously while its tail flicked back and forth.

"Ah! Now now now, little fella, that's not for you. Go away," Johann scolded, approaching the terror. He reached for it, yelping when the dragon snapped at him with needle-like teeth.

"Oh, hey, there you are!"

Johann cradled his injured hand as Jack calmly approached the terror, plucking it from the basket with his free hand.

"Sorry about that," he said to Trader Johann. "He's just curious."

So was Jack, for that matter. He leaned over Mildew's basket, attempting to peer inside only to have the trader snap the lid shut before he could get a good look. He did, however, manage to catch a faint whiff of something floral.

"Taking after his owner, no doubt!" Johann teased.

"I'm not really his owner," Jack replied, struggling to hold the terror as it squirmed in his arms, clamoring up to his shoulders where it hissed at Johann. "We've only met a couple of times. Whoa, hey!"

Suddenly the terrible terror leaped from Jack's shoulders, landing on Toothless's head and causing the nightfury to leap back in surprise. Toothless's tail flailed, whipping into Hiccup's back and knocking the vial of squid ink from his hands.

"Hey!" Hiccup cried as the terror flew off. Toothless let out a low whine as he sniffed at the black smear across the deck of Johann's ship, Hiccup staring at the shattered pieces of clay forlornly. "Oh, it's gone."

"Oh, sorry lad, that was my last one," Johann apologized, sounding genuinely remorseful. "But rest assured I'll find that colossal squid and wrestle you another bottle."

Hiccup scooped up a shard of the ink bottle, not reassured by Johann's declaration.

"Whoops," Jack said, placing his hand on Toothless's head as the black dragon crooned apologetically.

When Jack and Hiccup arrived at the Dragon Training Academy that afternoon, it was to the sight of the twins shoving a huge, foreign statue towards the center of the ring. Hiccup watched, bemused, as Tuffnut huffed and puffed, his sister abandoning him in favor of greeting Jack. Baby Tooth glared at the female twin as she unsuccessfully flirted with her larger-half, calling the girl vulgar things in hummingbird.

"How does that look?" Tuffnut asked, leaning against the statue as his chest heaved.

"Beautiful," his sister replied, leaning against Jack's shoulder. She lost her balance a moment later when Jack stepped away, earning a vindictive snicker from Baby Tooth.

"Wow," Hiccup breathed as he approached the academy's new centerpiece. "You got that just for the academy?"

"Yeah, we got it from Trader Johann," Tuffnut replied. "We had to give him our great-grandfather's skull, but we got to keep his clavicle."

Hiccup grinned, running his fingers over the intricately carved designs winding across the surface of the totem.

"Wow. You know, it's about time you guys started taking some pride in this place."

"Duck."

"What?"

As he had been talking, Hiccup failed to notice Ruffnut approaching Barf-and-Belch. Tuffnut grabbed Hiccup's shoulder, pulling the scrawny teen down with him as his sister snapped her fingers. At her signal Barf-and-Belch launched a stream of gas straight into the statues' face, igniting it instantly. The resulting blast sent the statue flying and singed the hairs on Hiccup’s and Tuffnut’s heads, though Tuffnut at least enjoyed it.

Snotlout grinned like a maniac.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" He threw himself onto Hookfang's saddle, grabbing onto his partner's horns as his excitement infected the dragon. "I wanna take a shot! FIRE!"

For once, Hookfang obeyed, shooting a globule of red-orange fire at the statue. It went flying back a few more feet, though not quite as far as the zippleback had sent it.

Jack laughed as Stormfly and Meatlug joined in this new game, the deadly nadder firing her quills at the statue without her rider's instruction and the gronkle blasting it with one of her lava balls. Even Toothless was eager to take a shot at the statue, mouth parting to fire a plasma blast and-

Hwech!

...Huh?

Everyone stared in Toothless in shock as a weak puff of violet light flew from his mouth, dissipating mid-air before it had even come close to the statue. Toothless rubbed at his muzzle blearily, shaking his head before another weak bolt burst from his mouth involuntarily, flying straight at Snotlout's head.

"Whah!" the burly teen cried, flinching and covering his head instinctively. The others hardly noticed, each of them staring at Toothless in concern.

"Okay, that's strange..." Hiccup said, mainly to himself, as he approached his dragon.

"Hey!" Snotlout snapped, not pleased with being ignored. "Could you have your dragon cover his mouth when he sneezes?"

"I-I'm sorry, but that's never happened before." Toothless stared up at Hiccup miserably, shaking his head as he felt another sneeze coming and aiming it at the ground nearby when it did.

((Maybe he'll feel better after a good night's sleep?)) Baby Tooth offered, sounding more sure than she felt.

Jack desperately hoped she was right.

Toothless was not feeling better after a good night's sleep.

In fact, he had gotten much worse, the sneezing coming more frequently and his muscles aching and spasming to the point that he could no longer fly straight, as Hiccup had learned after a particularly painful crash-landing. Toothless groaned miserably at Hiccup, the noise tugging at Hiccup's heart. As much as he knew about dragons – which was in fact more than anyone else on Berk except for, maybe, Fishlegs – he knew next to nothing about treating draconic illnesses.

Toothless was not the only one affected. Walking the plaza, Jack had come across the blue terrible terror from the day before, lounging in the shade next to a flower bush with violet blooms. The poor thing was shaking and sneezing, groaning like Toothless was, crying out as Jack picked him up, ((pain-pain-pain-pain-pain...))

Gobber insisted he had a cure.

"This'll fix 'em right up!" the blacksmith exclaimed over a bubbling cauldron filled with a viscous, foul-smelling green liquid.

They were inside Hiccup's house, seated around the fire pit on the first floor. Hiccup was kneeling next to Toothless with both hands on the nightfury's muzzle as he tried to ease his friend's suffering. Jack sat a few feet away, terrible terror cradled in his arms as he stroked the poor creature's belly in slow, soothing circles. Baby Tooth was flying overhead, keeping to the rafters and out of Gobber's sight, but radiating concern-fear-worry-sympathy-care for the ailing dragons.

"What is that?" Hiccup asked as Gobber approached him, cauldron swinging from his hook-hand.

"It's best no' ta ask," Gobber replied as he set the cauldron down in front of Toothless's muzzle. "And whatever ye do, don' touch it."

Hwech!

Gobber leaped back as Toothless sneezed, sending the cauldron flying and coating the front of his tunic with green goo.

"Well that's ruined," the blacksmith groaned as he bent and scooped up the now empty cauldron. "I'll never ge' tha' yak ta vomit again."

Neither Hiccup nor Jack had a chance to let that sink in before the door to Hiccup's hut was bursting open.

"Guys!" Astrid called, breath coming out in uneven pants and face coated with a sheen of sweat. "You gotta see this!"

It was spreading. Astrid had led the two of them outside where they found Barf-and-Belch, Hookfang, and Meatlug flailing mid-air. Their riders tried desperately to calm them, to get their flights back under control, but to no avail. Hiccup flinched as one of Hookfang's talons caught the length of one of Berk's raised braziers, sending himself and Snotlout in an uncontrolled spiral before he finally managed to get his talon unstuck and went flying into the dirt.

"Help her, Hiccup!" Fishlegs cried from atop Meatlug. The poor gronkle was rotating in place, weaving up and down without any real direction. "She's sick! And I'm about to be... blrrffgh..."

Meatlug collided none too gracefully with the ground, Fishlegs collapsing from her saddle moments later and collapsing into a bed of flowers.

"They're all getting sick," Jack breathed, hold on the sick dragon in his arms unconsciously tightening. Hiccup's hut flew open again, Gobber stepping outside and taking in the sight of the dazed dragons.

"How do we stop this!" Hiccup cried, turning to his mentor with the sort of pleading expression he had not used since he was small. Gobber hummed thoughtfully to himself, scratching at his chin before his whole face suddenly lit up.

"Gothi! She'll know wha' ta do!"

Gothi turned out to be an incredibly tiny, incredibly old woman with a face like an owl, wide-eyed and pointy-nosed, and silver hair tied into two uneven braids. She carried with her a bent walking stick decorated with polished dragon's teeth and wore a small helmet with thin, curling horns. Her home was built atop a small plateau overlooking the village, the inside of which was decorated with charms and talismans of every sort, most of them carved from wood or animal bones. A massive fire pit with foul-smelling flames already burning hot and bright made up the centerpiece of the main room, around which several boxes of sand were carefully arranged.

The old woman set about inspecting the dragons eagerly, first looking over Toothless – his eyes, his mouth, his nostrils, his claws – and then doing the same to the terrible terror in Jack's arms. Jack watched silently as she scooped up a set of cleanly picked bones from her fireside, holding them to her lips briefly before scattering them across the ground.

"I've heard Gothi can tell you when you're gonna die just by looking at your fingernails," Astrid whispered as the old woman inspected the lay of the bones.

The moment she did, Fishlegs – who had, perhaps unwisely, left Meatlug in the care of Snotlout and the twins in favor of accompanying the others to Gothi's hut – tucked his hands behind his back.

"Aah, tha's jest an old wives' tale," Gobber reassured the teens as he approached the elder. "She looks at yer tongue."

Then Fishlegs clapped his hands over his mouth.

Ignoring them, Jack and Hiccup watched as Gothi grabbed up her walking stick and used it to trace lines in one of her sandboxes. Gobber leaned over her shoulder, inspecting the cryptic writings that few in the village could decipher. As he stared at them, Jack watched the scribbles crawl across the dirt, lines rearranging themselves until the spelled:

((The dragons are having a reaction, not unlike an allergy.))

"She says they're reactin' ta something, like they're allergic," Gobber translated for those without the Gift of Tongues.

"Allergic?" Hiccup parroted, arms around Toothless's neck. "To what?"

Again, Gothi began scribbling, and again, Gobber translated.

"To a moose... wearin' boots." Jack and Gothi stared at Gobber incredulously. "Shouldn' nae be to hard ta find."

Pain exploded across Gobber's forehead as Gothi struck him with her staff.

"I didn' nae think tha' was right," he muttered, rubbing the red spot left behind. For a tiny thing, Gothi was surprisingly strong.

"She said they're allergic to something new," Jack corrected, garnering odd looks from the others in the room save Gothi, who smiled warmly at him. "Something that came to the island recently."

"You can read her writing?" Fishlegs asked, eyes wide. Jack shrugged.

"That still looks like a moose," Gobber muttered, earning him another strike from the elder.

"There are a lot of new things on the island," Astrid pointed out. "Trader Johann was just here."

Gothi began to scratch into the dirt again, but before she could finish Jack felt a slight tug at the back of his tunic.

((What about the flowers?)) Baby Tooth whispered into Jack's ear, unnoticed by either of the adults in the room. ((I saw some of the dragons eating them, and I'm pretty sure that they weren't here before yesterday.))

Ice blue eyes widened in realization. He remembered, very suddenly, the floral scent from the baskets on Trader Johann's ship.

"What about the flowers?" he said, giving voice to Baby Tooth's idea. "The ones in the plaza?"

Gothi paused, looking up from her scritch-scratching to meet Jack's eyes. Baby Tooth pressed herself against the back of Jack's neck, hiding from the elder's piercing gaze. A moment later Gothi was writing again, leaving her last sentence unfinished.

((Do you know where the flowers came from? Who bought them?))

"No idea," Jack admitted. "But I remember Mildew bought some baskets from Trader Johann yesterday, and the baskets smelled like flowers."

Hiccup's head shot up at the mention of Mildew's name.

"Fishlegs!" he shouted, causing the husky viking to jump. "Do you have your botany book with you?"

"Uuuuuhhh..." Fishlegs fumbled, patting himself down before withdrawing the book from the folds of his tunic. Everyone gathered around as he flipped through the pages, peering over the shoulders. "Okay, here it is. Chapter eight, poisonous plants..."

Anger burned in Hiccup's chest as Fishlegs began to read.

"The blue oleander. Very soft, perennial... and poisonous to reptiles."

Unconsciously Hiccup's fingers tightened into a fist, fingernails digging into his palms until they burned. Even Baby Tooth had to clasp her hands over her mouth to keep from shrieking in rage, though Jack could still feel her fury-despair-anger-disgust.

"Which means poisonous to dragons."

After leaving Gothi's hut, Hiccup and Jack brought Toothless and the blue terror back to Hiccup's home, settling the two comfortably atop the nightfury's stone slab in hopes that getting some rest would help. Before leaving Hiccup grabbed the Book of Dragons from underneath his bed, and then they joined the others on the steps of the Great Hall where Fishlegs was pouring over his botany book in search of a cure.

"I-i-i-t's no good," the husky blonde stammered through shuddering breaths, tears threatening to fall. "I've l-looked through the chapters on m-medicinal plants and sp-pecial p-properties. There's nothing o-on blue oleander p-p-poisoning."

"Hey, relax Fishlegs," Astrid said, placing a surprisingly gentle hand on his shoulder. "We'll figure this out."

"I could freeze all of the plants," Jack offered, raising his staff. Fishlegs shook his head.

"Even if you did, it wouldn't d-do anything for the dragons who already ate the p-plant. We need a cure."

"Will this help?" Hiccup asked as he handed Fishlegs the Book of Dragons. "Maybe there's something on treating sick dragons."

Setting aside his botany book, Fishlegs accepted the larger tome, flipping it open and turning the pages more out of habit than anything else.

"I don't think so. This book was originally created as a guide for dragon-slayers and all other information since is pretty much everything we've discovered on our own and- Oh! Snakes and spiders!"

Everyone stared at him blankly.

"Snakes and spiders!" Fishlegs repeated enthusiastically, as though he expected them to suddenly understand as he flipped furiously through the book. "When you get bitten by a poisonous spider, the antidote can be made from the venom of a creature that eats said spider, the snake. To get the antidote for a poisonous flower, we need the venom from a creature that eats said flower and that-!"

Fishlegs froze, face still split by a wide grin but falling every second. He had found the page he was looking for, depicting an ink illustration of an ocean-born dragon with a long, serpentine neck spraying out a cloud of what looked like steam. Jack peered over the page, reading the words 'scauldron' at the top.

"No venom," he read aloud.

Silence fell over the group.

For several moments nobody said anything. The twins exchanged mournful looks, Snotlout wrung his hands together, Astrid's shoulders shook with barely suppressed rage, and Fishlegs stared solemnly at the book in his hands. Jack threw a sympathetic look to Hiccup, feeling sorry not only for the lanky viking who loved his nightfury companion so deeply, but also for the reptilian creatures whose voices he could hear even now, crying out ((pain-pain-pain-pain-pain.))

A thunderous roar suddenly broke the silence, followed moments later by the pounding of wings against the air.

"Hiccup!" Stoick called as he and Thornado touched down in the plaza. "Put this in the Book of Dragons! Never fly on a stomach full of under cooked mutton. The Shivering Shores will never be the same!"

Stoick was smiling at the teens as he approached, laughing privately at his own joke, but as he neared the group and took in their grim expressions his own smile fell. Only now did he realize that none of their dragons were with them.

"What is it Hiccup? What's wrong?"

"Mildew poisoned the dragons!" Jack replied in place of the chief's son, leaping to his feet as he did. Stoick's eyes went wide as the white-haired boy continued. "He bought poisonous plants from Trader Johann, knowing that they'd hurt the dragons!"

"He did what?" Stoick growled, feeling rage towards the old man as he never had before.

Before he’d tamed Thornado, Mildew's antics and hatred of dragons had been a nuisance. Now, however, he knew what it was like to be bonded to a dragon, knew how intimately a dragon and its rider were connected. Turning to Hiccup and taking in his solemn expression, he thought he understood now how badly Hiccup was hurting for Toothless's sake.

Expression hardening into a withering glare, the Hooligan chief said, "Let's go pay the old man a visit."

"Wha- So what if I planted some flowers? The town square has never looked better! I was merely trying to spread some beauty and happiness." Mildew stroked the wool of his pet sheep, Fungus, as four sets of eyes glowered at him. No one was convinced by his plea of ignorance.

Stoick confronted the hermit in his hut on the outskirts of town, bringing along his son as well as Astrid and Jack. The children, he knew, were already convinced of the old man's guilt. If he were being perfectly honest, he would admit that he was as well, but as chief it was his duty to remain impartial.

"Since when have you cared about beauty or happiness?" Astrid growled, fingers twitching for the axe Chief Stoick didn’t let her bring.

"You did this," Hiccup accused.

"Wha...?" Mildew's words broke off into a disbelieving laugh as Stoick glowered at him. "Well I had no inkling, Stoick, that these flowers had special properties. It's true, I'm no friend of the dragons, but in this case, on my life, I was not trying to harm them."

Stoick held the old man's gaze for several moments, hoping to break the old man. After a while, however, he sighed, turning and pushing the door to Mildew's hut open.

"Let's go."

"What?" Jack stared at the chief incredulously. "You don't really believe this guy, do you!?"

"Let's go, Jack," Stoick repeated. "We have more important things to deal with, like getting the dragons taken care of."

Jack growled, hand tightening around his staff until his knuckles turned white and sending Mildew one last poisonous glare, but, reluctantly, he allowed himself to be ushered out of the hut by Stoick, Astrid and Hiccup following close behind.

Once the door had shut behind them and they were on the winding dirt road back to the village Stoick placed a hand on Jack's slim shoulder and said, "Believe me, lad, he will get what's coming to him."

That only made Jack feel a little bit better.

The sun had just set when the four of them arrived back in Berk. Astrid bid Hiccup and Jack goodnight before returning to her own home, do doubt eager to check up on Stormfly. Stoick and Hiccup similarly returned to their own home, Jack following them up to their doorstep only.

"Tell Toothless I said 'get well soon,'" Jack said, waving to Hiccup as the brunette retreated into his home.

"You know you’re welcome to stay the night," Stoick said, but Jack just shook his head.

"I’m good,” he assured the chief for what felt like the hundredth time. “I have my camp. Thanks for the offer though.”

“...Very well.” Stoick gave him a nod. “G’night, lad.”

“Good night, Jack,” Hiccup added before Stoick closed the door, leaving Jack nearly alone in the dark.

With the streets now empty of people, Baby Tooth emerged from Jack's purse, gleefully stretching her wings in the cool air. The purse was a lot more cramped than Jack's hood had been. Alone in the night, wandering by the dim light of the half-moon, the two made their way from flower bush to flower bush, frosting the delicate plants down to the roots. Even if it wouldn’t fix their current problem, it made the pair feel better.

"Lad?" Baby Tooth 'eeped,' disappearing into Jack's purse as Gobber appeared from the front door of his smithy-slash-dentistry-office. "Wha' are ye doin' out 'ere?"

Jack glanced around, wondering if Gobber had noticed him freezing the plants. The blue oleanders sparkled in the dim moonlight, rims of frost crusting their vibrant petals. It disgusted Jack that they should look so beautiful when they were causing so much pain.

"Just walking around," Jack half-lied as Gobber made his way down the hill. Leaning on his staff, Jack gestured to the sky. "It looked like a nice night, and I needed the air."

"Well, ye're gonna freeze your toes off at this rate. Come inside, ah'll get ye somethin' warm ta put in yer belly."

Jack almost declined, but the promise of food proved too much to resist. With a slight nod, Jack allowed himself to be lead into the smithy, a sweat breaking out on his skin the moment he stepped within the confines of the heated space.

"Make yerself cozy," Gobber said as he bustled about the shop. "Ah'll jes be a momen'."

Complying silently, Jack slid himself onto a wooden stool, staring at the dying fire of the forge blankly. Baby Tooth was trying to console him with soothing emotions, but he could still feel echoes of the dragons' pain pain pain. He thought about Tory, clutching her dragon toy to her chest and babbling excitedly about the dragon she would ride someday. What did she think of all of this?

"Ah, 'ere ye are, lad." Appearing seemingly from nowhere, Gobber shoved a steaming mug of frothy yellow liquid in his face. "This'll warm ye right up."

"Thanks," Jack muttered as he accepted the mug with one hand, not mentioning that he felt too warm already.

The mug cooled the moment his fingers brushed it, and it took all of his willpower to not frost it over while Gobber watched. Raising the now cool beverage to his lips, Jack took a sip, and then immediately burst out coughing. The alcohol wasn’t particularly strong to an adult human with the vikings’ typical bulky frame, but it was still enough to burn his throat.

"Ah know ye're still worried about the dragons, lad, but we'll figger somethin' out. Wee Hiccup's a brilliant one, an' he'd do anything for those winged lizards."

"I know," Jack replied, setting his mug down and swallowing thickly to get rid of the sensation in his throat. "I just, uh... I wish there was something I could do."

Jack felt a consoling arm on his shoulder, and once again he thought to North.

"Fishlegs says that if we had the poison from something that eats the blue oleander we could use it to make a cure," he went on. He paused, took another sip of mead, and then continued, "But the only creature that we know that eats that stuff is something called a scauldron, and they don't even have venom."

"Wha' are ye goin' on about? Scauldrons 'ave venom."

"What?" Jack stared at Gobber, eyes wide. "But the Book of Dragons said-"

"The book is wrong," Gobber cut him off. "I've dealt with a scauldron before. They're sixty feet long with razor sharp teeth. It'll shoot boiling water that'll melt the flesh from yer bones. The scauldron has no fear, no conscience, but wha' a scauldron does have is venom, an' lots o' it!"

Jack sat up straighter and straighter in the stool as Gobber spoke, eyes going wide and a grin pulling at his lips. Inside the purse Baby Tooth's wings buzzed excitedly as she sang hope-good-we-do-go-find-we-will-us-strong-go!

"So we just have to go find a scauldron then!" Jack cried, leaping to his feet. Gobber stared at him, jaw dropping for a moment.

"Aye, we jes have ta find a merciless sea-monster an' politely ask it for some o' it's venom," he deadpanned as Jack ran to the door.

"C'mon!" the white-haired immortal cried, ignoring the blacksmith's snark. "Let's go wake up Hic!"

A miserable whine vibrated in Toothless's throat, despite the soothing hands rubbing behind his head-fins. Hiccup sighed, leaning his slim frame against the dragon's back and wrapping his arms around Toothless's shoulders.

"I am so sorry, Toothless," he whispered.

With his cheek pressed against the nightfury's glossy black scales he could feel how cold his friend had become, his inner fire dimmed by Mildew's poisonous flowers. As much as Mildew had annoyed him in the past, Hiccup had never wanted so badly to hurt the old man as he did now.

The blue terror – Hiccup had contemplated giving it a name, only to realize it probably wouldn’t have need of one for much longer – whined piteously behind him, curled up against Toothless's side for what little body heat they were able to share. It was so unfair, Hiccup thought, that Mildew's plan not only hurt Berk's trained dragons, but also the playful wild ones that just happened to pass through at the wrong time.

If any of them died, he was going to kill Mildew.

Hiccup was certain his father wouldn’t stop him. Upon returning to their hut they found that Thornado had also come down with the oleander poisoning, their pungent aroma proving to be enough to infect the powerful dragon. After saying good night to Jack, Stoick had gone right out back to be with the thunderdrum. Though they’d only been together a short time, Hiccup knew that his father and Thornado loved and trusted one another; Stoick would not let Mildew live long enough to celebrate the death of the dragons if it came to that.

A sudden rapid banging from downstairs snapped Hiccup from his increasingly dark thoughts.

"Hiccup!" Jack's voice called from downstairs. "Hiccup, get down here right now!"

Pressing his forehead to Toothless's muzzle, Hiccup said, "Be right back, bud."

Toothless trilled softly as Hiccup stood, prosthetic leg squeaking as he made his way swiftly down the stairs.

The moment he yanked open the front door, Hiccup found himself faced with the grinning face of Jack Frost, Gobber and Stoick standing a little ways away outside his hut.

"Scauldrons have venom!" Jack cried.

For several moments Hiccup just stared at Jack, the words not quite sinking in, but when they did he felt his lips begin to curl into a wide grin matching the one that split Jack's face.

"Scauldrons have venom?" Jack nodded eagerly, and an incredulous laugh escaped from Hiccup's throat. "Scauldrons have venom!"

There was hope.

A low mist hung over the surface of the ocean, the water as still and smooth as glass on that particular night. Hiccup shivered, pulling his fur vest tighter around himself as he leaned over the edge of the longboat, searching the water for some trace of green wings. The scent of saltwater mixed with the aroma of the blue oleanders filling the baskets stacked in the deck of the ship burned his nostrils, but he could live with that.

"This is an outrage!"

Mildew's incessant complaining, on the other hand, he could do without.

"I dug up the flowers!" the hermit groused. "I did my part!"

"We're all out here because of you, Mildew," Stoick growled, looking at the old man sideways as he, too, scanned the water for some sign of a scauldron. "If we have to put our lives at risk, then so do you."

Behind him, Gobber, Sven, Mulch, and Bucket grumbled and nodded in unison, shooting the hermit icy glares as they rotated the oars. Mildew scoffed, waving them off.

"You have no proof, Stoick. You can't blame me every time something goes amiss with your precious dragons." Mildew shoved his way past Hiccup and Jack, ignoring the looks he was garnering from the others on the ship.

"Can we throw him in the ocean?" Jack asked.

"No," Stoick replied, eyes still to the water.

"Please?"

Stoick opened his mouth to say 'no' again, and then hesitated. Mildew fixed the chief with a look of pure disbelief.

"All right Stoick," Gobber said, approaching the Hooligan chief with a wooden bucket hanging from his hook. "What's the plan?"

Taking the bucket from his friend, Stoick turned to Hiccup, expression stern.

"Hiccup, when Gobber and I secure the scauldron's head, Sven will wedge its jaw open. We'll need you to-"

"Drain the poison into this bucket. Got it." Hiccup took the bucket. "Let's get started."

Jack set aside his staff and joined Hiccup in grabbing the flower baskets and scattering their contents overboard. Soon the water surrounding their vessel was decorated with hundreds of tiny blooms, and again Jack was disgusted by how pretty they looked. Only one basket remained untouched, sitting innocuously on the deck where it would remain until they were ready for it.

Hours passed. As the night wore on the sense of unease that held the crew in the beginning evaporated, leaving the vikings tired and bored. Jack at one point tried to make himself comfortable sitting on the ship’s railing, only to be sternly ordered back onto the deck by the chief. Hiccup tried to keep his eyes on the water, but at a certain point he’d picked up an oleander and started twisting the petals between his thumb and forefinger out of sheer boredom. Only Mildew remained alert. If anything, he seemed to become more agitated as the time passed.

"Ah, this is not working. It was a stupid idea to begin with."

Lips curling into a disgusted sneer, Hiccup started for Mildew, stopping only when Stoick placed a large hand on his chest, raising the other one in a placating gesture.

"Easy son, that's not why we're here."

Gobber pointed at something in the water.

"But that is."

Everyone rushed to the side of the ship, leaning over the railing in order to get a look at the massive wings of the sea-green dragon as it glided through the water underneath their ship. Jack's eyes widened in surprise; the scauldron didn’t look at all like the horrifying monster Gobber had described. It looked rather pretty, in fact, with the moon- and starlight rippling over its wings, giving it an ethereal appearance.

"Scauldron," Stoick whispered as its head came up to snatch some of the blue oleanders from the water’s surface near the ship.

Suddenly Jack was leaning over the side of the railing, waving his hand and crying out, "Hey! Hey, over here! We need to talk to you!"

"Lad, are ye nuts!?" Gobber cried, grabbing the back of Jack's tunic with his good hand and yanking him back inside the ship. "What do ye think yer doin'?"

"Trying to get its attention," Jack replied without taking his eyes off of the scauldron. Even with Gobber tugging at his tunic he leaned forward, still waving. "Hey!"

The scauldron's back broke the ocean surface first, and with a hissing noise and a spray of saltwater its head was alongside the ship. Its face was narrower than Jack had thought, but with a large sack attached to the underside of its throat that bobbed every time it moved. Blinking its large, pearly eyes, it stared curiously at the wingless in the longboat, all of whom were staring at it with wide, frightened eyes. All of them, that is, except for two.

((You-what-you? Wingless-no-speak-you-speak-wingless-you? Dragon-you?))

Slipping free of Gobber's grasp, Jack scooped up the last basket of blue oleanders, motioning for Hiccup to come closer. Snapping out of his stupor, Hiccup grabbed the bucket they had set aside for the scauldron's venom, approaching the wild dragon cautiously even as it fixed its gaze to Jack.

"My name is Jack," he was saying to the sea-dragon, appearing completely unafraid even as the scauldron's jaw unhinged to reveal two rows of fine, needle-like teeth. "Some of my friends are very sick, and we think you can cure them."

Unheeded by the two teenagers and the dragon, the rest of the crew stared, eyes wide and mouths agape. Gobber leaned over to his best friend and whispered into the chief's ear, "Ah may need ta change mah skivvies."

((Wingless-sick-me-no-wingless-me-no-help-wingless.))

"They're not humans," Jack replied. "They're dragons. They were poisoned by these flowers-" Jack held the basket out to the scauldron, removing the lid to reveal its contents "-and we think your venom can cure them."

The cat-like pupils of the scauldron's eyes suddenly rounded out. ((Cousins-sick-mad-scared-hurt-sorry-protect-protect.))

Jack smiled. Waving Hiccup closer, he continued, "We just need to drain some of your poison into this bucket." Hiccup held the bucket towards the dragon. "We'll give you the rest of these flowers afterwards?"

The scauldron blinked, inspecting Jack first, then Hiccup and the bucket. Then its jaw parted. The adults on the ship jumped, half-expecting an attack, but the scauldron simply lowered its head to Hiccup. It placed its front teeth over the rim of the bucket, pinching the wood between its narrow jaw and, with a slight hissing sound, secreted a clear, oily substance with a wet squelch. The poison dripped until the bucket was half-full, and then the scauldron released its hold, serpentine tongue swiping over its bulbous chin as it lapped up the poison dripping over its slick skin.

"Thank you," Jack whispered as he held out the flower basket.

With a quick snap of its jaws the scauldron plucked the basket out of his hands, crooning, ((You-Icicle-good-Icicle-protect-cousins-happy-good-good.)) Then it was sliding beneath the waves, tail snapping up as it disappeared and sending a spray of saltwater over the ship.

"We did it." Jack's voice coming out as barely a whisper. He rounded on Hiccup, a grin threatening to tear his face in half. "Hiccup, we did i-"

He froze as he saw how Hiccup was staring at him. The lanky viking's eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and his mouth moved soundlessly as he tried and failed to put to words the questions running through his head a mile a minute. Furrowing his eyebrows, Jack turned to Stoick and Gobber to ask what was wrong, only to find they were staring at him with the same stupefied expressions as Hiccup.

"...Why is everyone staring at me like that?"

Mildew responded first, fixing Jack with a stink eye and shaking his finger at him accusingly.

"I-I-I knew there was something not right about you." He instantly whirled to face Stoick, his voice rising to a wail as he shrieked, "Sorcery! That boy is an abomination! Not natural! I told you he wasn't normal!"

Snapping out of his stupor, Stoick fixed the hermit with a hard stare.

"Mildew…"

He hardly noticed his son shoving the bucket into Jack's arms.

"Don't 'Mildew' me! We need to get rid of him now, before he does more harm! Cast him into the ocean and leave him to di-"

Mildew's tirade was cut short as Hiccup's fist collided with his face. The old man went sprawling to the ground with a loud crack, going limp as he lost consciousness. Cursing under his breath, Hiccup nursed his now smarting knuckles as he glared at Mildew venomously.

He pointedly ignored the fact that everyone on the ship was now fixing him with the same expressions they had been fixing Jack with moments ago.

"So, you can talk to dragons?"

It had been posed as a question, but Hiccup already knew the answer. The two boys sat at the edge of Toothless's slate, Hiccup on his knees facing the nightfury and Jack cross-legged next to him with the blue terrible terror resting contentedly in his lap. They had only just finished applying the scauldron's antidote to the two reptiles. Baby Tooth trilled from her perch atop Toothless's head and the nightfury warbled something back to her. With nothing left to do but wait and see if the dragons recovered, Hiccup decided that now would be as good a time as any to address what had happened on the ship.

"Yeah..." Jack admitted, not looking up from the terror curled up in his lap. He stroked the dragon's round belly in slow, soothing circles as he waited for any sign of the dragons' recovery. "Actually, it's not just dragons. I can understand all languages, human or animal, or anything else." He shrugged. "That's why I can understand Baby Tooth. And you."

Hiccup blinked.

"Me?"

"I don't actually speak Norse," Jack clarified. Finally he turned to face Hiccup, a slightly sheepish expression on his face. "It's old magic, called the Gift of Tongues. I can understand any language I hear or see."

"That's incredible."

Jack shrugged.

"Eh, it comes in pretty handy. I’m actually more impressed with you."

"Wh-what?" Heat flooded Hiccup's face and he feared that if he looked into a mirror at that moment he would find his face was as red as Toothless's artificial tail-fin. "I-I mean, uh, wh-what makes you say that?"

Not exactly his smoothest moment, he would admit.

A wistful smile appeared on Jack's face and his gaze again fell to the tiny dragon in his lap. Baby Tooth chirped, opalescent wings twitching slightly and Hiccup for the first time found himself actually wondering what she had said.

"’Cause up ‘til now, I had no idea you didn’t understand dragon-speak. I mean, it's been a couple of weeks and all this time I never even noticed. You talk and then Toothless talks back and it doesn't sound one-sided at all. I've seen people go to war with each other just because they couldn't understand each other's language but you guys..." Here Jack paused. Again the spirit's gaze shifted, and when his ice-colored eyes met Hiccup's emerald the brunette felt his breath catch in his throat. "You don't speak the same language, and you don't look alike, but all of you live together peacefully. I think that's pretty incredible."

"U-uhm..." Hiccup forced himself to turn his gaze back to Toothless. He was unable to ignore the slightly teasing expression the sick dragon was fixing him with. "I never thought of it like that. I mean, I knew that dragons were smart and that they could understand us but..." He paused, cleared his throat, and attempted to will his blush away before turning back to Jack. "You really had no idea?"

“You think I woulda had that friendly chit-chat with the scauldron in front of your dad and the creep if I did?"

Hiccup let out a groan.

“Oh gods, how am I going to explain that to my dad…?” He ran his hand through his hair, tugging at the strands. He hadn’t exactly… dealt with Mildew very well. Hel, he still didn’t know what had come over him; one moment he’d been standing next to Jack, the next he’d been standing over the old man. “Do you think maybe we can convince him you’re just really good at reading dragon body language?”

“Maybe,” Jack answered with a shrug. “In my experience, adults are stupidly gullible.”

Toothless let out his usual goff goff goff, drawing the boys' attention. Hiccup smiled and scratched behind Toothless's head-fins. The black dragon cooed in delight before pushing himself upright and bringing his face close to Hiccup's. The lanky viking yelped and Jack and Baby Tooth burst out laughing as suddenly Hiccup was shoved onto his back and Toothless began mercilessly covering him with big, wet dragon kisses.

"Aw, Toothless, gross! Stop! That doesn't wash out!"

"Get 'im Toothless!" Jack cheered between peals of laughter. "Dragons versus Vikings! Who will win?"

Jack's terror chirped and scrambled up onto his shoulder so as to better watch Hiccup drown in nightfury saliva.

"Oh, thanks a lot!" Hiccup cried, as he was mocked mercilessly by the spirit and his fairy. On the bright side, he thought, at least the dragons were feeling better.

Stoick knew from experience that agitated pacing solved nothing. Still, that did not stop his feet from moving. Dawn had yet to break over Berk, and the chief hadn’t slept a wink. It had been little over an hour since the vessel had sailed back into port and Gothi had worked the venom into a supposed antidote. Half an hour since they’d dosed as many of the dragons as they could, tame and wild. Now the Hooligan Chief was pacing at his dragon's side, waiting for some sign of recovery.

And, well, thinking some things over.

Hiccup and Jack had both retreated inside, his son racing to Toothless's side the moment his feet had hit the docks and Jack tending to the little terror curled up against the nightfury's warmth. They had yet to speak a word about what had happened on the ship and, honestly, Stoick was unsure if he wanted to.

There were a lot of mysteries surrounding that boy. Chief among them, his apparently lost memories. Clearly the child didn’t think there was anything odd about being able to speak to dragons, but was that just a product of his amnesia or was it commonplace wherever the boy came from? Was Mildew right about him? Was the boy truly not human? Or was he just a little different, the way Hiccup was?

Lost in his thoughts, Stoick didn’t notice the door of his hut swinging open, nor did he notice the sound of boots and dragon paws and bare feet padding across the grass.

"Dad," Hiccup's voice finally caught his attention. "They're coming around."

Stoick turned to his son, whose arms were draped around Toothless's neck as the nightfury stared up at him with what was probably a relieved expression. Jack stood at Hiccup's side, blue terrible terror perched on his shoulders and chirping happily as it curled its tail around the boy's thin neck.

Turning to his own dragon, Stoick found Thornado gazing up at him warmly. The thunderdrum stretched his wings, raising to his feet as he purred to his rider as though to say 'thank you.'

A relieved laugh escaped Stoick as he called out, "Thornado!"

Before he knew what he was doing he’d dropped to his knees, brushing his forehead against his dragon's muzzle as Thornado continued to purr.

"I didn't think the wild dragons would be dangerous,” Jack spoke as he watched Stoick’s display. “I woke up here and there were dragons everywhere, even wild ones in the village. They all act like they understand you so I thought...” He shrugged.

((Good-happy-relief-hope-good-us-yes,)) Thornado purred in response.

Rising to his feet, Stoick turned towards Jack. The boy attempted to appear nonchalant, one hand twirling his staff and the other resting on his belt, but his eyes belied a certain nervousness. And when Stoick reached out to place his hand on the boy’s thin shoulder, Stoick didn’t miss the way Jack flinched and started to pull away.

"Thank you, for saving my dragon."

Jack stared at him for a moment, a smile slowly forming on his face.

Behind him, Hiccup was rubbing Toothless's muzzle. The nightfury cooed in glee as his rider asked, "How are you feeling there, bud?"

In response Toothless tipped his head back. Opening his jaw, he shot out a plasma bolt – a proper, large one – which flew over the sky of Berk and exploded with a thunderous crack. Ash and dissipating white embers rained down over the slowly greying sky, and a moment later Thornado was celebrating the same way, letting a resounding roar loose that echoed over the whole island. Even the terrible terror launched a spurt of flame into the sky, less impressive than the two larger dragons', sure, but no less beautiful.

"Come," Stoick said, pushing open the door to his hut and ushering the boys and their dragons inside. "It's high time we got some rest."

The next time Stoick invited Jack to stay over, he accepted the invitation. And he did again when Stoick offered the following night, and the night after that. Hopefully, this was the beginning of a permanent arrangement. Despite the boy’s assurances, Stoick didn’t really like the idea of him living alone in the woods.

Three days later, when Stoick crept into his son's room in the dawn's early light, he was greeted with the sight of his son sleeping soundly in his bed and Jack, somehow or other, sleeping up in the rafters, staff held close to his chest like a beloved childhood toy and one leg dangling freely in the air. A nostalgic smile crept to Stoick's face at the sight; Valka had possessed the same bizarre ability to sleep soundly nearly anywhere and in any position.

As stealthily as a man his size could, Stoick slipped into the room carrying in his large hands two gifts for the sleeping boys.

When Hiccup and Jack woke several hours later Stoick was long gone, having taken off on Thornado to attend to his duties as chief. There on Hiccup's desk, however, they found evidence of his visit; an unbroken bottle filled with pure squid ink, and a wolf-skin cloak and mask.

As well as a pair of warm boots. With the first battle won, it was time to move on to the next.

Chapter Text

((Us-fearless-fastest-strongest-us-we-together-fly-go-go-go!))

"Yeah! Come on, bud! Here we go buddy! Come on, Toothless!"

Boy-and-dragon weaved through Berk's dense forests, gliding effortlessly around the trees before shooting into the open sky as they rocketed past the bright red banner that served as their checkpoint. Far below the cliffs where the flag was raised Berk's Dragon Academy stood, and inside the ring six teenagers watched the nightfury-rider pair pierce the air with expressions of awe.

"Here they come!" Astrid shouted as Fishlegs marked the time on his sundial.

Jack grinned, watching the race while perched atop the crook of his perfectly balanced staff. As Hiccup and Toothless drew nearer he cupped his hands around his mouth to cheer, "Yeah! Go Hic! Go Toothless!"

On one shoulder Baby Tooth rolled her mismatched eyes. On the other shoulder Wodensfang – the blue terrible terror Jack had recently named – let out a cute yawn accompanied by a ring of white smoke.

Hiccup and Toothless shot out to open sea, snapping past the second check point. Again, Fishlegs scratched a mark into the sundial.

"Let's go! We got it!" Hiccup cried as he and his partner sped through the last stretch of their course. The air around them shrieked as they passed the last banner, turned sharply in mid-air, and raced back to the academy, each of them soaked with the other's sweat and hearts pounding in sync.

"Yup! It's a new course record!" Fishlegs exclaimed as Hiccup and Toothless touched down just outside the ring.

Toothless bounded inside, still full of energy and tongue lolling out of his mouth and Hiccup was breathing hard as he climbed down from the saddle. Searching out the faces of his friends – and trying not to stare when he saw that the twins had somehow once again gotten the horns of their helmets tangled – Hiccup found Jack positively beaming at him, and could do nothing to stop the proud smirk that appeared on his own face.

"So, how'd we do?" he asked, puffing out his chest just a little. Baby Tooth fixed him with an unimpressed look.

"Not bad kiddo!" Jack replied, oblivious to how his well-meant nickname caused the lanky viking to deflate. "You broke the course record!"

"However!" Fishlegs cut in, stepping in front of Jack in order to catch Hiccup's gaze. "While you and Toothless are still technically the fastest, someone – and I won't mention who – is gaining significant ground."

Baby Tooth snickered as panic flashed across Hiccup’s face. He glanced around, eyes first landing on the twins, still struggling to disentangle their helmets – seriously, how!? – before turning to Astrid. She had her back turned to him, attention all on Stormfly as she affectionately scratched the deadly nadder's chin. But the moment she felt eyes on her back she threw a glance over her shoulder, catching Hiccup's gaze and flashing him a satisfied smirk of her own.

"How can that be?" Hiccup placed a hand on Toothless's head. "How can Toothless be getting slower?"

"He's not. Stormfly's getting faster," Fishlegs explained.

Baby Tooth shot Hiccup a smug grin.

Ignoring the frost-fairy, Hiccup turned to Astrid with a sly look.

"Oh really? Is that so?" Taking a step towards the deadly nadder-rider pair, he asked, "Anything you'd like to share, Astrid?"

Astrid chuckled, continuing to stroke Stormfly's chin as she replied, "Let's just say I'm experimenting with what she eats. Apparently, it's working... and making you mad."

((Yum-yum-feathered-food-yum-good-makes-strong-makes-fast!)) Stormfly squawked. ((Without-Teeth-Hiccup-fastest-hah!-Flies-Astrid-in-Storm-faster-faster-fastest!)) Her triumphant crowing ended with a loud belch and a spurt of flame that smelled suspiciously like barbecue.

Before Hiccup could pry further or Jack could question Astrid on what Stormfly meant by 'feathered food,' a loud, obnoxious voice cut through the air, whoo-ing and yeah-ing as Hookfang looped in wide circles over the academy three times before finally touching down just outside the gate.

"You will not believe what I just found!" Snotlout exclaimed as Hookfang crawled down into the arena. His arms were crossed, his expression cocky, and his chest puffed out more than usual.

"A half a brain?" Jack ventured a guess.

Snotlout shot him an annoyed look, scoffing before saying, "Nooooooo, Ice-brain. I already have half a brain."

"My bad," Jack replied with a roll of his eyes as Baby Tooth snickered. "Clearly, I was mistaken."

"Yes, you were." Snotlout was unsure of why he felt like he hadn’t exactly won that exchange.

"Uh, hey, you said you found something?" Hiccup asked. "Because if not then we're kinda in the middle of something..."

"Oh, I found something, and just for the record, I already called dibs."

The late afternoon had melted into early evening by the time the Riders of Berk touched down on the isolated section of beach on the east side of the island Snotlout had lead them too. The area was very far out of the way, tucked against the side of the cliff and accessible only by boat or by dragon flight. Jagged rocks punctuated the small stretch of sand giving it an unfriendly look and the other riders had to wonder what had drawn Snotlout to this beach in the first place.

Wedged between two of these crooked boulders was a small fishing vessel. The ship was upturned so the brine covered underside was raised to the sky and the wood was cracked and splintered in places. Half of the sail hung over the side of the hull where the ship's cabin was propped up against the rocks, and several pieces of what Hiccup presumed to be the mast were strewn about the sand nearby.

"Huh, a wrecked boat on Berk," Tuffnut scoffed as he climbed down from Belch's head. "Yeah, there's something new."

Ignoring him, Snotlout crossed the sand eagerly, grinning like a madman as he told the other riders, "Just remember, I saw it first, so it's mine."

With that said he knelt by the ship, pushing back the sail to reveal the hollow space beneath the deck. The teenagers gathered around, clustering at the small wedge between ship and sand that was just large enough to fit one person; one young girl, approximately their age, with olive skin and silky black hair tied into a braid, in this case.

"Whoa," Tuffnut breathed as he stared at the unconscious figure lying in the sand. "Now I like the boat."

"Remember, I get to keep her!" Snotlout boasted, earning a combination of disbelieving, exasperated, and disgusted looks from the others.

"Snotlout, it's a person!" Astrid snapped.

"Right? How lucky is that?"

"Be careful," Jack teased. "She might transform into a giant and eat you."

Snotlout shot him a dirty look.

Ignoring Jack and his obnoxious cousin, Hiccup crawled underneath the deck towards the girl. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he gave a gentle shake.

"Uh, hey. Hey there."

The girl was still for a moment. Hiccup was preparing himself to drag her out when suddenly she moved, fingers twitching as she let out a soft, barely audible groan. Behind him Tuffnut and Snotlout leaned forward eagerly, stupid grins plastered to their faces as she lifted hers from the sand. At first she hardly seemed to notice them, blinking away the spots in her vision as she wiped away the sand clinging to her face. Her vision focused all at once, however, and when it did she let out a frightened gasp, retreating into the dark space beneath her battered ship in an attempt to put as much distance between herself and these strangers as possible.

"It's okay!" Hiccup insisted, raising one hand in defense and speaking on gentle tones. "We're friends." The look Snotlout was giving her was more than friendly.

The girl just stared at them, chest heaving and sweat trickling down the side of her face. Her lips moved, soundlessly, as she tried to ask where she was, and moments later she had fallen into a coughing fit.

"D-do you have any water?" she finally managed to rasp out through tears.

Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs tripped over themselves as they rushed to offer their own water-skins to the mysterious girl. They shoved and elbowed one another, spattering water all over the already wet sand. Finally Snotlout managed to shove the other two into the ground.

Offering the girl his now only half-full water-skin, he put on what he thought was a smooth expression and said, "Allow me."

"Thank you," the girl breathed as she accepted the water-skin. She drank greedily, throat bobbing and trails of water trickling down her chin and disappearing underneath her tunic. When she was done she swiped one hand against her moist lips, handing Snotlout his water-skin back with the other. "W-wh-where am I?"

"You're on Berk," Hiccup explained, holding his hand out to help her out. A moment later, however, he was shoved aside not by Snotlout or one of the other boys, but by Toothless who had grown bored of waiting and wanted to meet his new person himself.

The girl shrieked, once again pressing herself against the splintered wood of the ship as Hiccup placed his hands on Toothless's muzzle and tried to shove him back out.

"Uh, don't be afraid. He won't hurt you."

((Caution-stranger-new-smell-what-she-good?-stranger-good?)) Toothless crooned as he slipped out from underneath the ship.

Hiccup stood, once again offering his hand to the girl as Jack stood nearby, hand on Toothless's muzzle to keep the nightfury from shoving forward again.

"Hey, come out. It's okay."

Stepping back from the shipwreck and ushering the others to do the same, Hiccup made a space for the girl to crawl out into the sunlight. She did, green eyes going wide as she took in the sight of not only the legendary nightfury, but also Wodensfang perched on Jack's shoulder, Barf-and-Belch staring at her curiously with both sets of eyes, Meatlug lounging in the sand, Stormfly preening, and Hookfang playing with a seashell.

Turning once again to Toothless, she saw Hiccup raise his palm to the dragon.

"Easy bud," he whispered, and instantly the nightfury's wings went slack and his slit pupils rounded out, a friendly coo rising from his throat.

"How did you do that?" she breathed. "Was it magic?"

"What?" Hiccup laughed, waving his hand dismissively. "No no no, that was just-"

"Nothing," Snotlout cut him off. "Watch this. Hookfang! Get your butt over here!"

Head snapping up from his seashell, the rust-colored monstrous nightmare glared at his rider. Then he leaped into the air, powerful wings stirring up clouds of sand as he flew away from be beach and abandoned his rider.

Snotlout stared in shock, the girl wearing a similar expression on her face.

"Good boy Hookfang!" Jack called, earning yet another withering glare from the burly viking. Turning to the girl, he offered her a snow-white smile. "That dragon's too smart for his rider."

"Hey!"

The girl laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear. She smiled at Jack warmly and said, "Heather."

"Jack," the Winter spirit replied. "And this is Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut and Ruffnut, Astrid, and-"

"And I would be Hiccup." Hiccup stepped forward to introduce himself.

"It’s nice to meet you all," Heather replied, eyes still on Jack.

Astrid took a step forward, inserting herself into the conversation.

"So Heather, what happened to you?"

Instantly Heather's smile fell. She began playing with her hands, eyes just beginning to water cast to the sand as she explained, "My family and I were on our way home to our island when our boat was attacked by pirates."

"I wanna be a pirate!"

Everyone turned to Tuffnut, Heather's expression one of horror while the others stared at him in disgust. Tuffnut's stupid grin fell, and he placed his hand on his chin contemplatively.

"Or a fish cleaner. I'm still on the fence." His sister dug her elbow into his ribs.

Clearing her throat, Astrid turned back to Heather. Casting the other girl a sympathetic look she urged, "You were saying?"

"They attacked our boat and took us back to our island... laying siege to it. I was able to escape, but my mother and father... they weren't so lucky." She curled in on herself, head bowing as she clutched her hands to her chest. Slowly her shoulders began to tremble as she fought to hold back tears.

"Stupid pirates!" Tuffnut shouted. "I'm definitely gonna be a fish cleaner."

"Hey, it’s okay. You're safe now," Jack said, reaching out slowly to place his hand on her shoulder. He held it there for a moment, and when she didn’t pull away he gave a light, reassuring squeeze. "You see my buddy Hiccup here? His dad's the chief. We'll make sure you get taken care of and find a way to get you back to your parents, alright?"

Heather sniffed and swiped at her eyes, the tears coming to a halt before they had truly begun. She met his gaze, a weak smile pulling at the corners of her lips. Then she threw her arms around his back, startling Jack and causing Wodensfang to leap from his perch as she pulled him into a hug. Jack stiffened, arms tense as he stared at Hiccup over her shoulder. Hiccup offered no help, only staring at him with an unreadable expression.

Finally, Heather released her hold. Jack offered her an awkward smile as she said, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Jack replied as Wodensfang settled back down on his shoulder.

One by one, the riders mounted their dragons. With little effort Hiccup was able to convince Heather to climb onto Toothless's saddle behind him. With his attention on the newcomer he hardly noticed Astrid hanging back. The viking girl knelt before the gap under Heather's boat, eyeing the shadows suspiciously but spotting nothing out of the ordinary. Still, for no reason she could put into words, Astrid felt the faintest impression of eyes boring into hers, as though the shadows were staring back at her.

Pulling herself to her feet, Astrid jogged to her dragon's side, heart pounding a bit more fiercely than she would’ve liked to admit. It was a feeling she hadn’t experienced since she was very small and thought the shapes in the dark were monsters coming to get her. She pulled herself into Stormfly's saddle, allowing Jack to settle behind her as his usual spot on Toothless's saddle was currently occupied.

"Hey, don't forget we're meeting tomorrow to work on our times," the viking girl called over as she strapped herself into her harness. "Unless you want Stormfly to be the fastest one in the Book of Dragons."

"Yeah, that's definitely not gonna happen. We will be there," Hiccup called back. Both he and Astrid remained oblivious to the amused looks Jack and Heather exchanged. "Okay," Hiccup said, addressing Heather, "Hang on."

Stormfly took off first, kicking back a spray of sand as Toothless shot after her. Heather's hold on Hiccup tightened, the shipwrecked girl at first terrified, before adrenaline kicked in and a joyful smile spread across her face.

They were already too far away to hear Snotlout's voice calling from the beach.

"Uh, hey! Can I get a ride from someone?"

Stoick had been more than happy to allow Heather to stay in his home. He bustled about the small hut, attempting in his own clumsy way to make it look clean and hospitable. Jack suspected that the Hooligan Chief was looking forward to having a woman in the house to help with the chores.

Hiccup's spring-loaded prosthetic squeaked as he lead Heather up the stairs to his room, which he had offered to her for the time being.

"All right, just this way, watch your step, and here we are."

Though the room was small and plainly furnished, Heather marveled at it. Toothless cooed at her from atop his stone slab as she looked around, eyes jumping from him to the desk where several of Hiccup's drawings lay scattered, to the single bed before turning to Hiccup.

"It was nice of your father to let me stay here," she said. "I'm sorry I'm kicking you... two..? Out of your bed."

"Aw, no, it's fine," Hiccup replied, waving her off. "I'm, uh, I'm happy to do it."

"And I don't really like beds anyway." Turning, Heather faced Jack, who had followed after her up the stairs. "I just, uh, yeah. I sleep in the rafters."

Heather's eyes went wide, and then she laughed.

"Until we can find you a safe place to go, consider Berk your home."

Heather smiled at Hiccup, holding his gaze until the flickering candlelight drew it to his desk.

"What are these?" she asked, gesturing to the drawings scattered across his desk and pinned to his wall. "They're really cool."

"A new saddle for Toothless," Hiccup explained as he pointed out the charcoal-etched drawings of saddle designs and tail-fin components. "We're trying to get some extra speed so we can stay on top of Astrid and Stormfly. Astrid's very competitive."

Hiccup had said the last sentence with a noncommittal shrug, earning a laugh from Jack.

"Completely unlike Hiccup over here," he said, leaning his weight on his staff.

"Hey, do you mind?" Hiccup snapped as Heather giggled.

"Nah, I'm good."

Hiccup rolled his eyes.

"So," he started, turning back to Heather, "okay, do you need anything? Some warm yak milk? A nice fish stew?"

"No, thank you, Hiccup," Heather replied, offering a weak smile. "I'm... I'm really tired. It's been a long day."

Hiccup nodded, backing up towards the stairs and Jack.

"Right. Okay, come on, Toothless." Toothless rose from his bed, huffing slightly to Hiccup as Jack went ahead downstairs. "We're sleeping downstairs."

"Hey, Hiccup?" Heather called just as Hiccup had turned his back.

He froze mid-step as Toothless slunk past him on the stairs. "Yes?"

"Thanks." Her eyes were wet again. Hiccup offered her a gentle smile.

"Sleep well, Heather."

Hiccup padded softly down the stairs. He could hear his father's snoring from his own room, but even the thunderous noise couldn’t block out the high-pitched trilling of fairy wings.

"Hey, is it all right if I leave Wodensfang here tonight?" Jack asked as he stoked the dying flame. Baby Tooth hovered over him, eyes locked with the terrible terror perched on her spot on Jack's shoulder. "He doesn't really care for the cold as much as we do."

"Leave..?" Hiccup's eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the spirit. "Where are you two going?"

"Oh, well," Jack stood, Baby Tooth rising in the air as he did so as to remain eye level with Wodensfang. "I just thought that I'd go back to sleeping in the cove while Heather's here. So it doesn't get too crowded."

Toothless tilted his head, crooning while Hiccup insisted, "There's plenty of room!"

Jack shook his head.

"Your dad barely fits in here," he pointed out, "I doubt he really wants three teenagers crammed in here with him. ‘Sides," here Jack gestured to his smaller-half, "Baby Tooth's been missing her little castle."

He missed the frost fairy sticking her tongue out at Hiccup.

Biting his lip, Hiccup forced himself to nod.

"All right, well, you'll still be at the Academy tomorrow, right?"

"Of course!" Jack beamed.

Gently he scooped Wodensfang off of his shoulder and deposited him on the stone mantle surrounding the fire pit. Wodensfang whined a bit, but only a for moment after which he circled in place on the warm stone and settled down, content.

"Baby Tooth's really eager to see Astrid and Stormfly kick you guys' butts,” he continued.

Hiccup rolled his eyes while Toothless snorted. With a final chuckle, Jack turned to leave.

"Oh! Before you go!"

Spinning on his heel, Jack watched as Hiccup dashed past the fire pit, running to the large shelf used to store his and his father's helmets and kneeling beneath it. On his knees, Hiccup drew out a wooden box. Inside the wooden box was Jack's wolf-fur cloak and mask. As Jack had said, he got too hot in it too quickly so most of the time he just didn’t wear it. Still, he didn’t want to appear ungrateful so he’d suggested hanging it from the wall like a decoration, but Stoick had yet to put up any mounts to hang it from. Draping the cloak over his arms, Hiccup shoved the box back underneath the shelf before running back to Jack's side.

"Here, take this," he said as he placed it in Jack's arms. "I know you don't get cold, but this will at least keep your clothes from getting soaked, right? And I'll bet it's softer than the ground."

Jack smiled faintly as he tucked the cloak under his arm.

"Thanks Hic. See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Hiccup affirmed. He watched as Jack slipped out the front door, feeling for some reason a dull sense of disappointment as the white-haired boy vanished into the cold with the frost-fairy at his side.

Neither he nor Toothless noticed the figure watching them from the top of the stairs.

Bones snapped between Stormfly's teeth as she happily chewed her meal, the taste so unlike the fish she was used to and so, so good.

"That's it girl," Astrid cooed as she set yet another barrel down next to her dragon with a loud thump. "Finish up your chicken. By the time Hiccup figures out this is what's giving you all that energy, he'll be eating our dust."

Stormfly hummed happily as she helped herself to the raw meat in the barrel, Astrid stroking her scales lovingly while she did.

"Chicken? Really?"

Astrid jumped, reaching for a weapon and spinning around as she searched for the voice. Stormfly, on the other hand, paid no mind, choosing instead to focus on her dinner.

"Up here."

Glancing up, Astrid found her own sapphire eyes locking with a pair of ice-colored ones, their owner smirking at her mischievously.

"Jack! What are you doing?" she hissed at the boy on the roof. Baby Tooth was floating in the air next to him, and was smiling and waving genially despite Astrid's indignation.

Rather than answering, Jack jumped from his perch, lowering himself gently to the ground in front of the deadly nadder-rider pair. He was wearing his cloak for once, Astrid noticed, the white wolf fur dusted with a light coating of frost that shone in the starlight. His staff was held behind his back and he kept his weight all on the ball of one foot, no doubt ready to take off again on a moment's notice.

"Spying on you."

"Well knock it off!"

Tilting his head to the side, Jack asked, "So, how did you figure it out?"

Astrid blinked, staring at him in confusion.

"The chicken thing. How did you figure out it would make her go faster?"

"Uh..." Astrid glanced at her dragon. Stormfly had yet to look up from the barrel of chicken. "I mean, I just feed her leftovers sometimes. No sense in letting good food go to waste."

Jack nodded in understanding.

"She seemed to really like the chicken, so I started setting it aside for her. Before we knew it, we were gaining on Hiccup and Toothless."

"That's pretty cool," Jack admitted, watching the deadly nadder munch on her raw meat happily. "I won't tell Hiccup."

Eyeing him suspiciously, Astrid asked, "Aaaand, you're not gonna hold this over me?"

Faking a look of hurt, Jack replied, "Astrid! I am wounded! When would I ever- Look, Hiccup's tearing his hair out trying to figure out where your speed's coming from and how to stay on top of you, and it's hilarious. You think I want that to end?"

"Now that makes sense."

With a playful chuckle, Jack lifted off, hovering a few feet above the ground.

"Well, I'm gonna let you get to sleep. See ya tomorrow, all right?"

Waving, Astrid nodded and said, "Good night!"

Jack took off, Baby Tooth remaining only a few minutes longer to chirp a farewell before she too was racing through the starry sky towards the Winter Cove. Astrid watched the sky for several minutes after they had left, leaning against the support of Stormfly's stable. She forgot, sometimes, that Jack was a spirit. Even with the aura of cold he radiated and the frost-fairy constantly at his side he seemed so much like an ordinary kid. Not for the first time, she wondered if there was anyone waiting for him wherever he came from; parents, siblings, friends, a lover, anybody who missed him. Jack had never hinted as such.

The sudden clatter of metal snapped Astrid from her musings. She leaped to full alertness, Stormfly following suit and baring her quills.

"Hello?" Astrid called. "Is somebody there?"

There was no answer, and in the dark she didn’t see anyone. Preferring to err on the side of caution, Astrid turned to Stormfly, gently telling the dragon to stay where she was, before taking off into the streets of Berk.

The sound had come from uphill, so Astrid took the path that led to the plaza. Occasionally she thought she caught a glimpse of someone in the shadows, always out of the corner of her eye and always gone before she could get a good look. She took off running after the figure, checking the narrow spaces between huts, backtracking behind her when she thought she missed something. Her search eventually brought her to the plaza, and still she had found no one and nothing. Just as she was on the verge of convincing herself that it had been in her imagination, she caught movement out of her peripheral vision.

"Hey!"

Astrid gave chase, only to freeze when she saw the figure's dark braid disappear behind the corner of Hiccup's hut.

"Heather?"

The sun had yet to rise over Berk when Jack touched down in the center of the plaza the next morning. Twirling his staff in his hand, he flitted from hut to hut, leaving gifts in the morning frost to be discovered by the children. The vikings didn’t have glass to keep the cold from creeping through their windows, but Jack made due. Crystalline dragons and fairies and Hooligan warriors formed of ice sat in the windowsills, sparkling in the pale morning light. The adults never questioned the presence of these shapes, whether they noticed them or not a mystery even to Jack, but the children who saw the figures squealed with delight, insisting that Nightlight had visited their homes the night before. Baby Tooth trilled contentedly as the two set about their self-appointed task. She adored the very early or very late hours because it meant she could visit Berk without the need to hide in Jack's purse. The pair was always careful when they made these little excursions; Baby Tooth was always out of sight and Jack's feet were always on the ground before any of the adults could see them.

So when they caught the barely audible sound of boot-clad feet padding across the dirt road Jack dropped from the sky, landing gracefully on his heels as Baby Tooth slipped into his purse without complaint.

"Hello?" a meek voice asked. "Is someone there?"

Mere moments later Heather was rounding the corner, hands clasped behind her back and head tilted curiously to the side. She froze as her eyes landed on Jack, and then offered him a faint smile.

"You're up early."

"You're one to talk," Jack replied, answering her smile with one of his own. "I thought you were going to sleep in. Considering... You know."

"I'm used to waking up early," Heather said. Her voice began to take on a wistful note, her eyes staring out at something far away as she played with her braid. "My family didn't have a lot of money, so I was always taking these odd jobs to help them out. I got used to very little sleep."

Jack felt a slight tug in his chest. If only the Guardians were there; Heather seemed like she could make good use of their gifts right now, particularly Bunnymund's.

"You must miss them a lot."

"Mm-hmm."

Jack approached Heather slowly, coming to stand right in front of her and breaking her distant gaze. Shyly Heather met his eyes, cheeks coloring a bit, and she began to twist her braid around her hand.

"I just... I wish it had been me instead."

"I bet your parents are glad it wasn't."

Finally, Heather met Jack's eyes. "But-"

"Listen to me," Jack interrupted, adopting a stern voice he used only very rarely. "No parent wants to outlive their child. Whatever happened to them in the end, I guarantee you they were thanking every god they knew that you got away safely."

Heather's jade eyes bore into Jack's, shimmering now with something aside from tears. Then the corners of her mouth quirked the slightest bit upwards and her fingers relaxed their death grip on her braid.

"You're right." She laughed at herself. "You're right. Still... I'd do just about anything to see them again, you know?"

Nodding slightly, Jack replied, "Yeah. I do."

Humming slightly, Heather's hands dropped to her side and she said, "I'm sorry, that got really depressing really fast. This isn't what I was looking for you for."

"You were looking for me?" Jack asked, blinking owlishly.

"To thank you for yesterday, and to... apologize." She scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "That was a little forward of me, and you seemed pretty freaked out."

It took Jack a moment to realize what she was talking about and when he did he felt his cheeks tingle just the slightest bit with a faint blush.

"Oh! Oh, no biggie. Don't worry about it." He chuckled, swinging his staff over his shoulders. "You just took me by surprise, that's all."

"I'm still sorry."

"It's fine!"

The Winter Spirit had put more force into his voice than he’d intended, but rather than looking offended Heather seemed to find it amusing, placing her slender fingers over her lips as she giggled. The reaction confused Jack, his head tilting to the side unconsciously as he wondered what about what he had said was funny.

"Well, we're both up." Heather's hands were once more clasped behind her back. She tilted her head, letting her braid fall over her shoulder before saying, "So, why don't you show me around?"

"It's a new record!" Fishlegs cheered as the dragon and his rider touched down in the center of the arena, each puffing their chest out proudly. "Well, a new personal record anyway, not a course record."

"I demand a recount!" Snotlout snapped, earning an exasperated huff from Hookfang.

"A recou- Snotlout that doesn't even make any sense."

"Does so!"

"No, it doesn't."

"Yes it does!"

Tuning out the squabbling pair and giving an exasperated huff of his own, Hiccup once again cast his eyes towards the Academy gate. As he had the last umpteen times he found no white-haired sprite shuffling in with a sheepish look on his face, apologizing profusely for being so late. No one aside from him seemed to notice Jack’s absence, save for the tiny terror perched on Hiccup's shoulder. Wodensfang had been whining pitifully for over an hour now, kneading Hiccup's bony shoulder with his tiny claws as the pair of them waited for Jack to make an appearance.

The spirit never did, however. Everyone had done their rounds on the course, Hiccup going only after everyone else had already twice, and only at the insistent urging of the other riders. By the time the sun had reached its peak in the sky and begun its slow descent each of the riders had gone at least four times, and Hiccup and Toothless had only gone once.

"Still waiting for your cheerleader?"

Hiccup jumped, whirling to face Astrid who was glancing at him sideways. Stormfly stood over her, mirroring her rider as she gave Hiccup the same sideways look.

"Ah, well, you know Toothless." Hiccup shrugged and gestured to the nightfury lounging only a few feet away. "He can't do anything without his good luck charm."

Without so much as opening his eyes, Toothless brought his tail up and slapped it across the back of his rider's head, earning a pained yelp from the brunette and a burst of laughter from Astrid. Hiccup turned to his dragon, rubbing the back of his head as he fixed the dragon with a sly look.

"I was talking about Baby Tooth, obviously!"

Toothless huffed, expression dripping with irritation as he curled his tail around his limbs and settled down.

Hiccup sighed, turning his attention back to Fishlegs and Snotlout but not actually processing anything they were saying. Dimly he was aware of the fact that the twins had jumped in on the argument, and that their dragon was now hissing and flaring his wings at Hookfang, but he found it wasn’t in him to care at the moment.

"Have you seen Heather this morning?"

Once again Astrid had snapped Hiccup from his thoughts.

"Dad said she left early to go for a walk around the village," Hiccup replied, remembering his momentary panic when he’d walked up the stairs that morning to fetch his newest housemate for breakfast only to find her gone. Thankfully Stoick had caught him as he burst from the house. Even before becoming chief Stoick had been a habitually early riser and he’d run into Heather as both of them made their way outside.

"Interesting."

Throwing his best human friend a surprised look, Hiccup asked, "What is?"

"It's just that..." Astrid paused, considered her words for a moment, and then went on, "Did anything about Heather's story seem strange to you?"

"No?" Hiccup blinked. "Astrid, did something happen?"

"I saw someone sneaking around last night," the viking girl confessed. "I was outside feeding Stormfly when something startled her. I ran around the village like a crazy person looking for the noise, and I'm not completely sure, but I think I saw Heather sneaking back into your house."

This had Hiccup finally turning fully to face Astrid, eyebrows scrunched in confusion or anxiety. Toothless, sensing his rider's changing mood, raised his head, head-fins vibrating as the two of them waited for Astrid to elaborate.

"Heather? Are you sure it was her?"

Astrid bit her lip.

"No. It was dark and I only saw the back of her head." Stormfly crooned, nuzzling Astrid's honey-blonde hair with her snout. Absently Astrid reached up and gave the blue nadder's chin a light scratch. "But I think it was her. I recognized her braid."

Hiccup's mouth opened to respond, but the moment he had a loud shriek pierced the air followed by the all too familiar hiss of steam and mocking goff goff goff from Hookfang as he laughed at his owner.

"Why, Hookfang, why!?"

The sight of Snotlout glaring at his dragon from where he sat in the water trough did not garner more than an eye roll from either Hiccup or Astrid, both of whom tuned him out immediately.

"I want to go check out her ship again," Astrid said. "I just... I have this feeling there's something we missed."

"And if we didn't?" Hiccup questioned. "If there's nothing there and it wasn't Heather sneaking around after all?"

"Well, I'll at least feel better. You can come if you want, or you can wait here." Without another word Astrid threw herself onto Stormfly's saddle. The deadly nadder let out an elated screech, wings spreading wide as she and her rider shot out of the Academy Gate.

Hiccup exchanged glances with Toothless, the nightfury's wings arching in anticipation. It was Wodensfang who made Hiccup's mind up. The blue terror chirped in his ear, thin tail wrapping loosely around his neck as he stared at Hiccup with morose eyes.

"Later bud," he said as he stroked his companion's head, running his fingers along the row of tiny spines that ran along the center. Toothless purred contentedly, settling back down. "Let's just wait a little bit longer, okay?"

The steely grey of pre-dawn was washed away by the rising sun, pale blue gaining dominance of the sky and easing the chill in the air only the slightest bit. Slowly the people of Berk emerged from their homes, children taking to the streets as the adults made their way either to the farms or the fishing boats. Jack showed Heather everything that Hiccup had shown him on his first proper visit into the village; the smithy which now served also as a dentistry office for dragons, the Great Hall, Gothi's hut where the old woman worked her magic and Mildew's hut just so she would know to avoid it. Heather gaped and then laughed when Jack told her about the time Hiccup cold-cocked the old man, though as he told the story he glossed over a few minor details.

Between peals of laughter Heather managed to get out, "Wow, Hiccup's really protective of you, isn't he?"

Jack chuckled, shaking his head.

"Nah. Mildew's just a grumpy old creep. I think everyone around here's wanted to punch him some time or other. I'm just surprised that Hiccup's the first one to snap and do it."

The conversation drifted from there, the two of them slowly forgetting their tour and simply strolling about the village as they spoke about trivial things; Heather talked about the tavern where she used to work, Jack talked about the Dragon Training Academy and the riders, Heather told him about her fantasies about traveling the world, and Jack told her about the children of Berk and the fairy-stories he shared with them. Neither of the pair paid attention to the sun rising higher and higher in the sky.

As they made their way back into the plaza Jack and Heather were met with the sight of several children cheering and running through the street, chasing after a group of terrible terrors with wooden swords. The dragons seemed to be heavily invested in the game, squawking excitedly as they whirled in circles just out of reach of the children's makeshift weapons and acting out dramatic deaths when they were so much as brushed by one. Heather pointed out one particularly striking performance by a yellow terror who gaped and writhed in imagined agony for several minutes before plopping down dead in the dirt, giving its hind leg a final shuddering twitch for good measure.

'Someone's certainly ready for a career in Hollywood,' Jack thought, just catching himself before this thought traveled from his mind to his mouth.

"Jack!"

Suddenly all eyes were on Jack and Heather. The dragons – dead and alive – hopped to their paws and joined the children as they swarmed the Winter sprite, much to Heather's amusement.

"Heeeey, kiddos!" Jack cried as he knelt. Three terrors immediately took his shoulders and a fourth his head while the kids surrounded him, chattering excitedly about the game they had been playing.

"We were doing the battle at the center of the earth!" Torborg announced, clutching her dragon plush toy to her chest as she pointed to each member of their band in turn. "I'm Sascha, and Gustav is Fog, Bard is Petter, Hjordis is Tall William, Fridenot is William the Almost Youngest, and Wulfric is William the Absolute Youngest." Then she held out her dragon and added, "And Snowfury is Kailash!"

"Who are the terrors playing?"

"They're the fearlings," Hjordis replied in Torborg's place. Disregarding her gender, it was no wonder Hjordis had been cast as she was, being both the tallest and the oldest of the group. She was thirteen years of age, with straight red hair cut just below her neck that fell over one eye. As most of Berk's children did, she dressed in a simple woolen tunic that reached below her knees and was faded and worn and had large smears of dirt pressed into the coarse material, and of the children she was one of only two who wore a horned helmet.

Despite being the closest of the group to adulthood, she still loved playtime and stories just as much as the smaller children. She had even – some number of months before Jack's arrival in Berk – helped Wulfric build a wooden gronkle costume with moving wings and claws.

"What about the Boogeyman and the Guardians?"

The children exchanged looks among themselves.

"Don't got 'em," ten-year-old Gustav said with a shrug. Like Hjordis, Gustav also wore a viking helmet, his with thick, curling black horns. Unlike the red-headed child, however, his helmet was two sizes too big for him and he was constantly reaching up to adjust it as it was constantly falling down over his eyes. "Tory said we could just pretend 'em there."

"But now we have Jack!" Torborg cut in, waving her arms excitedly. "He makes a perfect Nightlight."

Color rushed to Jack's cheeks at the unknowingly offered praise. The children continued to whisper among themselves, before Wulfric shouted above the collective whispers, "And that girl can be Katherine!"

Heather jumped as the focus of the group was suddenly shifted onto her. She would have been content to simply watch their game, feeling somewhat out of place in the large, friendly group. Just as she was about to decline, however, Jack flashed her another of his beguiling smiles.

"Come on! It'll be fun!" The terrors using him as a perch chirped as though to agree, and Heather could not find it in herself to say no.

"All right," she replied, nodding firmly. "So which one is Katherine again?"

Torborg jumped to answer, "Katherine's the Guardian of Imagination! She has a magic book that holds all the stories in the world ever!" As she spoke she held out Snowfury and added, "And she has her magic snow goose Kailash, so I guess you can borrow Snowfury for a while. But you have to give 'im back when we're done!"

"Of course!" Heather laughed, accepting the toy. "I’ll be super careful with it." She cradled the toy dragon close to her chest, stroking its head as though it were a living thing and noticing only then how beautifully made it was. "Oh, its so cute. Did your mother make it for you?"

"Nope!" Torborg giggled. "Jack did!"

Heather stared at Jack with wide eyes. He didn’t notice.

Stormfly's talons sank into the sand as she set down on the secluded beach where Heather had washed up the previous day. The moment she felt Astrid's weight slip from the saddle she nestled down into the sun-warmed sand, relishing the heat pressed up against her scales and soaking up the midday sun.

"I'll just be a minute, Stormfly," Astrid assured the nadder, stroking her beak-like snout. Stormfly replied with a contented squawk and settled her large chin down in the sand the moment Astrid's fingers left her scales.

Astrid, for her part, did not feel so calm as she presented herself. The moment she’d set down on the beach a wave of dread washed over her. It wasn’t the same intense fear that had taken her when Hiccup had gone to his 'final exam' the year prior, nor was it anything similar to the near-paralyzing terror she’d felt the first time she saw the head of the Red Death emerging from her volcano. In some ways, however, those fears would have been preferable. Those, at least, had been caused by a tangible thing, something she could take up arms against. This was sourceless, faceless, irrational fear, the same sort she had felt as a child waking up from a particularly vivid nightmare. There was nothing she could do about it but grit her teeth and step forward, so that’s what she did.

Kneeling beneath the shade of the shipwreck, Astrid was hardly surprised to find it unchanged. The only indication she saw that anyone had even been here was the slight depression in the sand where Heather had lain the previous day. No monsters. No schematics of secret plans to take over Berk. Nothing. The viking scoffed at her own foolishness.

"This was stupid."

Astrid stood, eyeing the shipwreck disdainfully. It was nothing, just a hunk of scrap wood with plain white sails, not a monster waiting to eat her. She turned her back on it and walked to her dragon's side with slow, deliberate steps.

Still, as the two of them soared through the air back towards the village Astrid couldn’t shake the feeling of eyes looming over her shoulder. She refused to look behind her the entire flight.

"-and as the chorus of 'I believes' filled the air the leather cover of Katherine's book opened with the contented sigh of a brand-new story entering the world. The pages turned, stopping to reveal a beautiful drawing of Katherine-"

Hiccup was only half-surprised when he entered the Great Hall that evening to find Jack sitting at their usual table – or rather on top of it – surrounded by a gaggle of children. Had Jack ditched dragon training for the day just to play with the children, Hiccup thought he wouldn’t have minded nearly as much. When he spotted the ebony-haired girl standing next to Jack, however, he felt an unexpected spike of anger and his fingers unconsciously dug into the leather-bound tome tucked under his arm. Toothless cooed and pressed his head against his partner's hand. Thankful for the slight distraction, Hiccup gave the nightfury a light scratch before making his way over to the table where Jack was telling his story.

"To the children's surprise, the drawing of Katherine began to move and talk. The insects and the owls and even Mr. Qwerty fell silent, and the only movement in Big Root came from the turning of the pages and the fluttering wings of the moths and butterflies that cooled the children against the summer heat-"

"Uh, hey." At the sound of Hiccup’s voice Jack's head snapped up, as did those of the children and Heather. Wodensfang, still attached to Hiccup's shoulder, chirped in greeting before abandoning his perch. Hiccup fixed the white-haired immortal with a dry look before saying, "So, did you forget something?"

"Wha- Oh! Oh, my bad."

Heather blinked and the children fixed Jack with confused looks.

"We were supposed to meet up," Jack explained as Wodensfang clambered into his lap, purring contentedly as he settled down. "At the Dragon Training Academy. I'm sorry, I forgot all about it."

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Hiccup, it's my fault," Heather cut in quickly, not giving Hiccup a chance to respond. "I ran into Jack this morning, and we started talking."

"Ours too," Torborg added, giving Snowfury a light squeeze. "We made Jack and Heather stay and play with us."

"We're sorry," Wulfric chimed in.

Looking at their morose expressions, Hiccup felt his anger evaporating and he felt kind of stupid for getting angry in the first place. It wasn’t like they’d done anything wrong, after all, and he was already well aware of Jack's weakness for children.

"It's all right," he sighed.

Jack responded with a relieved smile.

"So how did training go? Did Astrid finally smoke you?"

"Ha ha. For your information, Toothless and I placed first again." Here, Toothless sat up just a bit straighter, puffing out his chest a little, much to the amusement of Jack and the children. "And Astrid... got a little faster."

"She's makin' ya sweat, huh?"

"Shut up."

The children let out a chorus of giggles, as did Heather.

"So, dragon training," Heather began as her laughter subsided. "That sounds pretty exciting."

"Oh, it is!" Jack answered, gesturing wildly with his hands. "Hiccup and the others made this academy to get the dragons used to living with humans, and they spend all of their time playing with dragons and flying and-"

"It's training, not playing," Hiccup interrupted.

"Whatever you say, kiddo," Jack teased. Turning back to Heather, he continued, "Hiccup's in charge of the academy. He's the best dragon trainer and flier out of all of them."

Turning to Hiccup with wide eyes, Heather found that the lanky viking's cheeks had colored just the slightest bit.

"Really?"

"Ah hah, I'm not that-"

"Hic's incredible!" Jack interrupted. "You should really see him in the air. He's practically a dragon himself! Dragon-breath and all."

"Hey!"

Suddenly the doors of the Great Hall flew open again and Astrid rushed inside, followed closely by Stormfly who hovered over her rider protectively as they made their way over to the group.

"Hey Astrid," Hiccup said, followed by a chorus of 'hi's and 'hello's from the children. "Where've you been?"

"Just... went for a fly over the beach, that's all." Astrid paused as her eyes landed on Heather, suspicion creeping onto her features despite her best efforts to keep her face neutral.

((Shadows,)) Stormfly squawked, catching Jack's attention. ((Crawling-shadows-bad-sick-wrong-follow-us-bad.))

((Shadows-here?)) Toothless growled. ((Shadows-here-danger-bad-worry-protect-Hiccup-Love-me-protect-kill-claw-tear-shadows.))

Jack sat up straighter and straighter as he stared at the pair, Astrid and Hiccup's continued conversation fading to a dull buzz in the background.

((No-shadows-here-shadows-run-hide-shadows-cowards-weak.))

Jack plucked Wodensfang up off of his lap and deposited him on the table, ignoring the tiny dragon's protest. The children parted as he slipped from the table, approaching Astrid cautiously with his eyes darting furiously between her and her shadow.

"Astrid, can I borrow you for a second?" he asked, cutting off whatever she had been about to say next.

The viking girl had no time to reply as Jack had suddenly grabbed her forearm and began leading her towards the double doors of the Great Hall. Taken off guard as she was – and still off-balance from her earlier encounter on the beach – Astrid offered surprisingly little resistance as she was dragged away from Hiccup and Heather and the children, Stormfly following behind but doing nothing to free her rider.

Hiccup broke the stunned silence that had fallen over those left behind with, "So, yeah! Nice talking to you too!"

"They’re kind of cute," Heather commented with a slight smile.

With Jack gone, the children began to drift off, murmuring soft 'goodbye's to Hiccup and Heather as they filed out of the Great Hall. Torborg hung back just for a moment, saying goodbye on her behalf and on Snowfury's before taking Wulfric's hand and leading him away. Now it was just Hiccup, Toothless, and Heather at the table, nearly alone save the few adults scattered about the Great Hall absorbed in their own quiet conversations.

"So, you're in charge of the whole academy? All by yourself?" Heather tilted her head and tucked her hair behind her ear as Hiccup turned to face her. "That sounds really difficult."

"Oh, it is. It’s exhausting," Hiccup replied, placing a free hand on Toothless's head and stoking the scales affectionately. "But rewarding too. Honestly, I can deal with the dragons just fine. It's their riders that give me a hard time."

"I'll bet."

Suddenly Heather was grabbed from behind, tiny, needle-like claws digging into her shoulder. She let out an involuntary shriek, causing Toothless to flinch back and Wodensfang to let out a yelp of his own before leaping from her shoulder and flying into Hiccup.

"Whoa! It's okay, it's okay!" Hiccup consoled the blue terror as he clambered onto Hiccup's narrow shoulders. Toothless goffed as Wodensfang threw Heather an irate hiss. "It's just Wodensfang, he won't hurt you."

"I know, I know..." Heather fixed her bangs, cheeks coloring this time in embarrassment. "He just took me by surprise. I'm sorry Wodensfang."

The tiny dragon huffed and turned his head away. When Heather reached out, however, and began to tickle the underside of his chin with her outstretched fingers he melted instantly, purring contentedly as faint streams of white smoke rose from his nostrils.

"So, how was your first day? How are you liking Berk?" Hiccup asked. He sat on one of the newly occupied spaces at the table, dropping the Book of Dragons in his lap as Heather took a seat next to him. Toothless settled next to him, laying by Hiccup's feet and resting his head on his front paws.

"Oh, it's incredible! I don't have the words!" Heather sighed, leaning back against the table while Wodensfang, regaining his confidence, gently slid from Hiccup's shoulders to hers. This time she didn’t so much as flinch, and even reached up to pluck Wodensfang from her shoulders in order to hold him in her lap. "Back home is nothing like this. Ever since the raids stopped the dragons just seem to not want anything to do with us, and most everyone is happy with that. I mean, we still get a few hunters who go out chasing them just because they can, but other than that we just don't interact much."

Hiccup nodded in understanding. While the defeat of the Red Death meant that the wild dragons were no longer forced to raid human settlements in order to gather enough food to sate her enormous appetite, only Berk even knew of the existence of the corrupted Dragon Queen. No doubt animosity and mistrust still lingered between the humans and dragons elsewhere in the archipelago.

"You could come by the Academy tomorrow, if you wanted," Hiccup offered. "There's a lot about dragons that's worth knowing. Hey, maybe we could even help you train one!"

Heather's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Hiccup replied enthusiastically. He shifted in his seat, leaning closer to Heather as he flipped open the cover of the Book of Dragons. "See, dragons are pretty easy to get along with as long as you show them that you're not trying to hurt them. Most of them don't mind carrying humans on their back."

Hiccup flipped through the pages as he spoke, showing Heather the different illustrations one at a time.

"What's that one?" She asked, pointing at a detailed drawing of a long-necked sea-dragon.

"That's a scauldron," Hiccup replied. "They spray boiling water instead of fire, and mostly stick to the ocean, but sometimes they come up on land to eat these flowers that they love." He turned the page to reveal an image of a bipedal dragon with small, bat-like wings and a huge frill atop its crocodilian head. "And this is a hobblegrunt. It's skin changes color according to its mood."

"Wow," Heather breathed as Hiccup turned the page once more. "What's that-"

Suddenly Toothless's head shot up, pupils narrowing into slits and eyes trained on the front doors to the Great Hall. Hiccup got no opportunity to ask his partner what was wrong when a loud, ominous shrieking filled the air accompanied by a very familiar sound – the musical, cackling sound of ice forming via magic. Dread pooled in the pit of Hiccup's stomach as he snapped the Book of Dragons closed. He threw the tome onto the table as he leaped to his feet, mirroring Toothless who was already poised to burst through the doors and sink his teeth into whatever stood on the other side. The few adults in the room stood slowly, hands reaching to their weapons as they gazed in the direction of the sound.

"Heather, stay here."

His tone left no room for argument and he didn’t stay long enough for Heather to reply anyway. In an instant he had thrown himself into Toothless's saddle and the two took off, racing through the doors with a ferocious roar. A resounding boom thundered through the Great Hall as the doors flew open and again as they swung shut behind the nightfury and his rider. Heather stared after them, frightened and bewildered. Still, as moments passed and her rapidly beating heart settled back into her chest she managed to regain enough of her composure to observe the book Hiccup had left behind. Gently she scooped Wodensfang up from her lap, depositing the terror on Hiccup's abandoned seat. Wodensfang squeaked in protest but Heather ignored him as she reached for the Book of Dragons with trembling fingers.

Astrid fully expected her heart to burst from her chest at any moment. The grotesque ice-sculpture looming over her appeared ready to come to life at any moment, reaching claws prepared to tear her to shreds and wide mouth stretched into a crooked, evil grin. Stormfly hissed and squawked at the frozen beast, quills flaring as her tail whipped back and forth and Baby Tooth hovered nearby, the slight humming of her wings being the only sound to break the near-silence since that last awful shriek emitted by the beast. Numbly Astrid pulled herself to her feet, her eyes never leaving the monster's yellow ones.

"I didn't think that would work," Jack half-said, half-laughed. His eyes were as wide as hers, fingers digging into his staff until the wood bit his skin, even now that the threat was over. Astrid understood the feeling. Her fingers were still itching for her axe.

"What was that thing?" she hissed. Slowly she backed away from it, not relaxing until she was no longer directly under its malevolent gaze and Stormfly was leaning protectively over her.

"A fearling," Jack replied as he prodded it with his staff. Arcs of blue magic leaped over the surface of the ice each time it made contact with the twisted wood. As the arcs faded the teens were left once again in total darkness, the moon having been blotted out by thick clouds. "You've heard my stories."

Finally Astrid turned her gaze away from the shadow, facing Jack with wide eyes.

"You mean those are real!?"

Baby Tooth squeaked something in her strange language as Jack shrugged. "You train and ride dragons. I can fly and control ice and my best friend is a frost fairy. Why is this weird?"

Astrid couldn’t argue with that.

"Stormfly said the shadows followed you from somewhere." Jack turned away from the frozen fearling, worried blue eyes locking with Astrid's. "Do you know where you picked this guy up from?"

Shaking her head, Astrid answered, "I think I would have noticed."

"Eh, maybe not. Fearlings look almost exactly like shadows, and they can be dead silent when they wanna be. In the dark they’re practically invisible."

Or literally invisible. Strangely enough, Jack hadn't really considered whether or not anyone here would be able to see the fearlings as well. The existence of magic and spirits was just a fact of life in this time period. Or at least, it was to the people of the archipelago, but until he started telling the Guardians' stories Jack was pretty sure he hadn't heard any of the Riders or the kids on Berk mention shadow monsters. Then again, maybe they just had their own names for them.

"Perfect. So they're ambush predators," Astrid growled, snapping Jack out of his thoughts. Her hand reached for the axe hanging from her belt.

"Er, kind of?" Jack replied. "Don't bother, that axe won't do anything to it, 'cept break the ice and let it free."

Astrid let go of the handle of her weapon.

“Hey Astrid, maybe you couldn't see it, but at any point today did you start to feel scared for no reason at all?"

Goosebumps broke out over Astrid's skin as she remembered the lingering dread that had washed over her earlier that afternoon.

"On the beach," she admitted. "Where we found Heather."

Jack whirled to face Astrid, eyes going wide.

"...What?"

Astrid explained everything to him; how she had felt eyes on her the day they found Heather, how she had seen the castaway girl sneaking around the night before, how she revisited the beach and felt a presence hiding in the shadows beneath the shipwreck. Jack listened intently, not stopping her or interrupting even to ask questions.

"It must have followed her from her island," he mused aloud after Astrid's story came to an end. "It sort of makes sense; she would have been scared after being attacked by pirates. It could have just hid in the shadows nearby and fed on her fear, but..."

"But...?" Astrid urged, quirking a honey-blonde brow.

"When did you say you saw her sneaking around?"

"It was last night, right after..."

Suddenly her breath caught in her throat. Jack and Baby Tooth stared at her anxiously while Stormfly pressed her snout into Astrid's hair, cooing consolingly. It did little to reassure her.

"Right after you flew off."

The realization crashed over the three of them. Thinking back on the events of the day, Jack realized Heather had been questioning him rather a lot, but nothing about that seemed unusual at the time. She hadn’t outright asked anything invasive and her questions about the dragons seemed only natural. He’d asked Hiccup and the others similar questions during that first week on Berk. Were Heather's intentions innocent, however? Or was he rationalizing it in order to keep at bay the stab of hurt that shot through his body at the notion that Heather might have been spying on them – spying on him? Baby Tooth landed on his shoulder, tweeting sadly.

"We should find her," Astrid suggested. "Confront her."

Jack nodded. Perhaps there was nothing sinister about Heather at all and they were just unsettled and suspicious due to the fearling's dark aura. The sooner they had this settled the better. Astrid grabbed a hold of Stormfly's saddle, swinging herself up and tucking her feet into the stirrups. They were about to take off when-

"Astrid! Jack!"

Both teens froze as yet another shadow descended from the sky. This one, however, was surrounded by no vile aura and its movements, rather than being eerily silent, were accompanied by the rushing sound that came whenever powerful wings beat the air. Hiccup descended in a panic, throwing himself from Toothless's saddle and freezing at the sight of the fearling.

"What the Hel is that!?" he asked while Toothless bared his teeth at the creature.

"We'll explain on the way," Astrid replied. "Right now we need to find Heather."

"Heather?" Hiccup parroted. "She's still in the Great Hall. Why? What's going on?"

"We're not sure exactly. I'm sure it was Heather I saw sneaking around now, and apparently this thing-" Astrid gestured to the fearling. "-followed her to Berk."

"And, again, what is this thing!?" Hiccup cried as he gestured wildly to the frozen fearling.

Jack sighed. "It's a fearling, okay? Can we get going now?"

"And you two were just gonna leave it here?"

"It'll disappear when the sun comes up. Light kills 'em."

"Right," Hiccup began, incredulity dripping from his tone. "In seventeen hours from now, when the sun finally rises, it'll disappear. We just have to hope that none of the people out looking for the thing that made that noise happen to come this way in the meantime."

Simultaneously, Astrid and Jack flinched.

"...Oh."

"Yeah, oh."

"So, what do we do with it?" Astrid asked. "Can we kill it?"

"Not with normal weapons we can't," Jack replied. "We need light."

"Toothless and I can fly it up the mountain," Hiccup offered. "It'll stay cold up there, no one will find it, and it will get a good spot in the sun."

Placing his hand on his chin, Jack seemed to consider a moment before exchanging mischievous looks with Baby Tooth.

"Or..." He trailed off, turning to Toothless. "Hey, Toothless, how bright do your plasma bolts get?"

Toothless trilled in response, and Hiccup felt his gut swirl as a smirk pulled at Jack's lips.

"Uh, Jack, what are you thinking?"

"The same thing as Toothless I'm betting. Step back."

Not needing to be told twice, Hiccup backpedaled until he was no longer standing between Toothless and the frozen fearling. A faint hissing sound filled the air as the nightfury formed a ball of white-hot flame in the back of his a scream Toothless launched the bolt at the fearling, the force knocking Hiccup and Jack from their feet – Stormfly having sense enough to leap into the air the moment the bolt was released – and creating a flash of blinding white light. The sculpture shattered into thousands of pieces, shards of ice and flecks of dew flying in every direction.

Jack laughed. He’d at least had the grace to be able to twist in the air and land perfectly balanced atop the post of a wooden fence. Hiccup, on the other hand, ended up flat on his back with chips if ice and soot clinging to his front, and Baby Tooth made no attempt to hide her amusement at the sight.

"Okay,” Jack said, hopping to the ground, “maybe we get outta the way a little bit faster next time."

"Right," Hiccup coughed as he climbed to his feet. "Next time. I'm so looking forward to the day when walking shadows becomes a regular thing we deal with here."

"You should have seen the Nightmares."

Smoke and steam rose from the spot of earth where the fearling had once stood, the only indication it had existed at all being the crater in the ground where Toothless's plasma bolt had blasted away the earth.

"All right, now that that's taken care of," Astrid hissed. "Let's go talk to Little Miss Innocent."

Berk was a fair bit colder than Bashem had been. Heather had already been well-aware of this, yet as she felt the cold seeping through her clothes and settling in her bones she found herself wondering for the umpteenth time how the Hooligan tribe could stand to live in such conditions. Even so, she stood defiantly in the frigid night air, feeling the ocean spray pelt her face and the ice water soak into the thin material of her boots. Clutched against her chest she held the Book of Dragons like a lifeline, fearful that at any moment the wind could tear it from her fingers. It was her only chance.

The night wore on. It was difficult to see anything, the moon and stars smothered by thick black clouds as they were. The ocean looked like tar. It was next to impossible to see where it ended and the sky began and with every moment that passed Heather grew more fearful that she’d somehow missed the meeting time, or that the person she was meeting with had gotten lost or killed in the dark.

As the thought had crossed her mind, however, she caught the faint sound of a man's voice grunting over the low crash of waves on the beach. The sound grew louder and louder and she realized that it wasn’t one man grunting, but several, and that their voices were accompanied by the creak of oars. A dim, grey outline began to take shape in the inky blackness, and Heather felt her heart leap into her chest as the spike-adorned longboat settled onto the sandy southern shore of Berk, hidden far from the actual village.

Only one figure emerged from the boat. Heather's fingers dug into the leather-bound tome as Savage the Outcast approached her, eyes narrowed dangerously and mouth twisted into a grim frown. He towered over her, but she refused to shrink back. She needed to stay strong here.

"What have you learned about the seiðmaðr?" he growled.

"I'm not even sure he is a seiðmaðr," Heather replied. "I haven't seen seen him do anything remotely resembling sorcery, he just plays with kids."

Savage's hand shot out, seizing a fistful of Heather's hair. She let out a pained hiss as he held her braid in a powerful grip.

"Alvin's not going to like that answer, Heather,” he growled. “Now try again."

Rather than answering verbally Heather shoved the Book of Dragons forward. Savage stared at it a moment before releasing her braid. A relieved sigh escaped her lips as he took the book from her.

"What is this?"

"It's a book. A Book of Dragons," she explained, voice steadier than her heartbeat. "They don't control the dragons with magic or hypnotism. They train them, and when Alvin gets this book, he'll be able to train them too."

Savage smirked. "Is that so?"

Nodding eagerly, Heather opened her mouth to continue. Then Astrid's voice cut across the beach.

"Yeah, is that so?"

Heather's heart leaped into her throat, whirling around she saw five dark shapes emerge from the treeline. A hissing sound filled the air and then the beach was awash with red-orange light. Toothless, Stormfly, Meatlug, Hookfang, and Barf-and-Belch all glared at her with slit pupils, their mouths filled with flames. Even more furious than the dragons were the riders atop their backs.

"Heather..."

Only now did Heather see the sixth figure, standing at Toothless's side rather than riding atop a dragon of his own. Guilt twisted in her stomach as she stared into Jack's eyes. He wore all of his expressions so openly, and while it had been endearing in the daylight when they had been playing with the children, now his betrayed expression stabbed deep into her chest.

"Drop the book, Outcast," Astrid hissed.

Stormfly squawked, flaring her wings and baring her quills at the intruders. Savage took a step back, clutching the Book of Dragons against his breastplate. All traces of skepticism were washed away as the Riders of Berk glowered at him. Now convinced of the book's worth, he was determined to keep it.

Heather stepped between them and Savage, hands held up defensively. "Guys, please, you don't understand-"

"Shut it!" Astrid snarled, causing the ebony-haired girl to flinch. "You don't get to say anything."

"Drop the book, and then get back on your ship," Hiccup ordered.

"Or we burn your ship to ashes," Snotlout growled.

"And then feed you to our dragons," the twins chorused.

Swallowing thickly, Savage considered his odds of coming out on top in a skirmish with the dragon riders. He and his men were all armed, yet they’d anticipated only a midnight meeting with their infiltrator. They had no catapults or nets to give them an advantage over the flying reptiles, and if their ship was destroyed they were stranded. Savage growled.

"Fine. Fine, take it." He tossed the book forward. It landed in the wet sand will a dull thump. The husky youth reacted first, his gronkle's wings disappearing into a blur as they shot forward, snatched up the book, and then fell back in line with their friends. "Are you going to let us go now? Or are you and your reptiles gonna blast us to bits anyway?"

"No. No, you can go," Hiccup said. Turning to Snotlout, he added, "Take the twins and follow them. Make sure they actually leave."

Still glaring at the ship full of Outcasts, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut took to the air. They circled the ship like vultures as the rowers began to shove off. Heather flinched as Savage grabbed her by her braid and started to pull her back towards the boat.

"Not her."

Heather's eyes went wide as she stared at Jack. The Riders matched her expression, all of them now staring at Jack.

"Heather stays with us," he stated, leaving no room for argument. "Now let her go."

Savage stared at Jack skeptically. Then he smirked, releasing Heather's braid and shoving her forward. Heather stumbled, but caught herself before she face planted in the sand.

"Fine, have it your way." Then he turned, stepping into the surf and grabbing the hull of his ship as it pulled out into the water. Then, low enough that his voice only reached his ears, he growled, "Argr.”

Despair washed over Heather as she watched the Outcast ship disappear out into the ocean, escorted by the monstrous nightmare and the zippleback.

No.

No, no, no no no no no! This wasn’t supposed to happen! This was not how it was supposed to end! They were- She was- Terror gripped her in an iron fist and the world seemed to swim. Dimly she was aware of a voice calling for her, but she paid it no mind. It didn’t matter, nothing mattered anymore! Each breath felt like boiling water being poured down her throat. The voice came again, and this time beyond not caring to answer, she simply wasn’t able to. The world suddenly pitched to the side and the glow of dragon fire once again disappeared into black. Heather knew nothing more.

Chapter Text

Hiccup was thankful for Toothless’s presence. It was the only thing keeping him from dying of boredom. He sat, as he had for the past twelve hours, at Heather's bedside in his own room, watching over the sleeping girl for some sign that she would soon awake. It was already well into the next day, the sun sinking lower and lower in the sky as the minutes trickled by. Hiccup had expected Heather to wake that morning – after which he and the others planned to move her from Stoick's hut to the cells beneath the Great Hall – but the day was nearly over and she hadn’t so much as twitched.

Boredom was a constant during his long, monotonous watch. Hiccup passed the time by working on several sketches – most of which lay as crumpled wads strewn across his floor – and speaking with Toothless, but he couldn’t stop his heel from bouncing against the ground as he fought the urge to abandon his post and climb into Toothless's saddle. The nightfury seemed to share his sentiments, if the way he constantly circled the cramped space was any indication.

Again Toothless crooned, catching the end of Hiccup's sleeve between his teeth and giving the dragon rider a light tug. Offering his dragon an apologetic smile and a light scratch on the chin, Hiccup said, "Sorry bud. Not yet."

The nightfury huffed, fixing his rider with the draconic equivalent of a pout which did nothing to prompt his rider into motion but did earn him an extra scratch behind the head-fin.

A slight rapping drew the pair's attention to the top of the stairwell and as they turned to the noise they were met with the sight of Jack ascending the stairs, a steaming bowl of stew in his free hand and an apologetic smile on his face.

"Hungry?"

"Starving," Hiccup replied as he snapped his notebook shut and tucked it inside of his vest.

He accepted the bowl gratefully as Jack handed it to him, immediately lifting it to his lips and drinking down a large gulp of the thick liquid. For the first time all day his attention was drawn from the spy in his bed and a smile graced his lips as he watched Baby Tooth wrestle her way out of Jack's purse to greet Toothless.

"How are things at the academy?"

"Oh, the usual," the spirit replied as he joined his companion in greeting Hiccup's. He knelt at the dragon's side, balancing his staff upright on its end before placing both hands on the underside of the nightfury's jaw. Toothless crooned as Jack began scratching. "The twins tried to set all of us on fire. Snotlout was being a jerk. Fishlegs talked. And talked. And talked." He shot Hiccup a halfhearted glare as the brunette chuckled. "Oh, and Astrid thought up an exciting new training exercise."

"Oh Tyr, I can't wait to hear this."

"Hand-to-claw combat."

"...You're kidding me."

"I kid you not, good sir."

"She did not seriously try to make you do that."

"Oh, she didn't try," Jack chuckled. "Luckily for 'Legs, Meatlug went easy on him. And Barf-and-Belch actually kept the twins from beating each other up."

"Dare I ask about Snotlout and Hookfang?" Hiccup asked before taking another swallow of stew.

"Eh, about the same as usual."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Figures."

"So how did your day go?"

With a dry laugh, Hiccup replied, "Oh, about as exciting as-"

"I was talking to Toothless," Jack interrupted with a playful smirk, Baby Tooth sniggering maliciously as he did.

"You're hilarious," Hiccup deadpanned as he fixed Jack with a dry look. The spirit merely chuckled at his reaction and Hiccup felt his expression softening as Jack laughed. Out of everyone, Jack had been the most affected by Heather's betrayal the previous night, and seeing the smile returned to his friend's face brought one to Hiccup’s as well.

((Boooooooooored!)) Toothless whined, oblivious to his rider's internal turmoil. ((Closed-in-prison-predator-girl-sleep-sleep-sleep-lie-still-Hiccup-bored-me-bored-need-air-need-sun!))

"I know buddy," Jack whispered soothingly.

Baby Tooth trilled, perching atop the nightfury's head and running her pin-sized hands over a single one of Toothless's scales. Jack mimicked the motion further back on the nightfury's skull. The twin sensations soothed Toothless, rendering him calmer than he had been all day.

"So how is she?" Jack asked, eyes remaining firmly locked on Toothless as he spoke. "Heather, I mean."

Moments ago Hiccup had been watching the interaction between Jack and his dragon with a fond look. His expression fell as he turned back to Heather.

"She hasn't woken up yet," he answered, unable to keep from his voice the touch of concern she didn’t really deserve. "I think something could really be wrong with her."

"We still don't know how long the fearling's been feeding from her. It could have left her weak."

Hiccup hummed, but said nothing. His fingers tightened on the wooden bowl as he stared at the figure sleeping in his bed. Uncharacteristic anger burned in his chest as he watched her lie there peacefully, thinking about how she’d taken advantage of their goodwill and trust. The anger, however, didn’t completely outweigh his confusion or desire to know the whole story.

After all, despite all of the rumors and horror stories he’d heard about the Outcasts, he’d not once heard of them having children among them.

It was possible, he supposed, for a girl to be born to the tribe, but all of the Outcast warriors he had seen were men and they hardly seemed to be the nurturing type. And if Heather wasn’t one of their tribe, that left more questions such as where was she from and why was she working with them? How had she, specifically, ended up tasked with spying on Berk and what was in it for her?

Then there was the matter of the fearling. Jack himself had said that it was well fed and that it could’ve been feeding from Heather for a long time. Why was it drawn to her? What was she so afraid of?

"Hey, Hic?"

Hiccup turned to Jack, snapped from his thoughts once more. Finally the spirit was looking at him, pale brows furrowed in concern.

"That word she used before... What was it? Sei- seiðmaðr?" Jack stumbled over the pronunciation. Even with the Gift of Tongues the word didn’t translate, and Jack could only guess the reason why. "What does it mean?"

A lump formed in Hiccup's throat.

"It's a word... that describes someone who uses magic," he explained somewhat hesitantly. "Specifically, a seiðmaðr is a man who practices it."

"Oh." Hiccup’s explanation left him just as confused as before. He still didn’t understand why the word couldn’t translate, nor why Hiccup seemed so uncomfortable discussing it. Baby Tooth trilled, placing one of her hands atop his consolingly. "Is it an insult?"

"Not exactly," Hiccup explained, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's just that... men aren't supposed to use magic. We’re supposed to use our own hands, and abilities and… Well, men who use magic are… weak.”

With every word out of his mouth, Hiccup felt increasingly more petty and stupid and by the end of it like a total hypocrite. It wasn’t like he was a paragon of masculinity, after all.

Jack processed Hiccup's words slowly, exchanging a dry look with Baby Tooth. The frost fairy was scowling, her irritation and indigence leaking into Jack's emotions. Or maybe those were his own.

"Right, that makes total sense." Jack’s voice was dripping with sarcasm.

They sat in uncomfortable silence for a few moments, Jack silently absorbing this new information and Hiccup struggling to piece together a way to salvage this conversation.

"B-but, that doesn't really apply to someone like you, right? Because you're not... uh..." Suddenly Hiccup just wished he had kept his mouth shut.

"Because I'm not human?"

Jack was only staring at him with a raised brow, but Baby Tooth was openly glaring. Had they not been staring at him so intently Hiccup would’ve begun bashing his head on the nearest hard surface.

"But everyone here thinks I'm human," Jack mused aloud, derailing the lanky viking's train of thought. "What would they do if they found out? About the magic, I mean."

"It... depends I guess," Hiccup replied, running his thumbs over the rough surface of the bowl in his hands. The stew was lukewarm now, the steam no longer rising from the bowl. "Some people are willing to, uh, put up with seiðmaðrs because of how powerful they are. They can do things like control weather or predict the future. Some people are scared of them for the same reason." His fingers were tightening unconsciously around the bowl. "In most places seiðmaðrs are just barely tolerated, and in the worst instances they could be outright executed..."

Hiccup hesitated, a hot lump forming in the back of his throat. The unreadable expression on Jack's face had his stomach tying itself into knots. Jack's hand had stilled atop Toothless's head, the other reaching unconsciously for the staff at his side. The nightfury crooned softly and Baby Tooth attempted to soothe him with gentle, loving emotions.

The bowl clicked as Hiccup set it down atop his desk. Standing abruptly, he took to Jack's side, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. Jack jolted, the sudden touch taking him by surprise.

"Don’t worry, nothing’s going to happen to you," Hiccup assured him. Jack's eyes snapped to Hiccup's face, taking in the quiet, firm resolve in his eyes as Hiccup gave his shoulder a light squeeze. "I promise."

Jack blinked, eyes going wide as though Hiccup had suddenly started speaking another language. Which shouldn’t have mattered, considering.

"I’m not worried about that," Jack assured Hiccup. With a faint sigh he said, "I know I'm not exactly discrete, but I can take care of myself just fine."

"But-"

Hiccup was interrupted as a silver and blue blur shot towards his face, Baby Tooth not allowing him to get a word in edgewise as she shook her pea-sized fists at him and shouted something he was better off not understanding in hummingbird. A surprised shout flew past Hiccup's lips as he jumped back, legs hitting his chair and sending him toppling backwards into his desk. The whole desk shook with the impact, the bowl of stew on its surface upsetting and flying over the edge where it landed on Hiccup's head with a wet schlop. Hiccup lay there, stunned, as the lukewarm stew dripped from his hair and soaked his tunic while Baby Tooth just snickered at him.

"Oh Manny," Jack cried, leaping to his feet and rushing to Hiccup's side. "Are you okay?"

"I-I think so," Hiccup replied as Toothless lumbered to his other side. The nightfury hummed low in his throat before swiping the side of Hiccup's face with his broad, forked tongue.

"Oh, good," Jack replied. Seconds afterwards he burst out laughing.

"Your concern is heartwarming," Hiccup drawled as he plucked the bowl from atop his head and pulled himself to his feet, swiping at the thick stew and nightfury saliva coating the side of his face with the back of his sleeve.

"Oh come on, I asked if you were okay before I laughed," Jack argued. "Here, you go get cleaned up. I'll stay here and keep an eye on Heather. Maybe you can take Toothless for a fly while you're out."

Hiccup's eyes lit up at the idea and turning to his companion he found the nightfury staring at him with perked head-fins and pleading eyes.

"You wouldn't mind staying here for a while?" Hiccup asked, turning back to Jack.

"Of course not," Jack replied, catching his staff with the top of his foot and kicking it upwards towards his hand. He swung it over his shoulder and offered Hiccup a smirk. "When else was I going to get a chance to snoop?"

"Please don't."

Jack's smirk turned into a cheeky grin as Baby Tooth rubbed her palms together conspiratorially.

"Why? You hiding something?"

"Jack I'm serious."

The spirit chuckled and offered Hiccup a playful punch. Hiccup couldn’t help comparing it to one of Astrid's. Jack's punch had been considerably lighter. He didn’t even feel the urge to rub his arm.

"Relax, kiddo, I'm joking." Using the hooked end of his staff Jack caught the back of Hiccup's upturned chair and righted it before spinning on his heel, plopped down in it, and waving off the brunette. "Go, have fun. Give Toothless a chance to stretch his wings."

Toothless caught the end of Hiccup's green tunic between his teeth, tugging him towards the stairs as he waved his tail playfully.

"We'll try not to take too long," Hiccup assured Jack as he allowed himself to be pulled out of the room.

"Have fun you two!" Jack called after the pair as they disappeared down the stairs.

He remained where he was until he was sure they were really gone, Baby Tooth landing on his shoulder to join him in his vigil. The moment they heard the door of the hut swing open and then clatter shut downstairs Jack was on his feet, eyes narrowed as he stared at the ebony-haired girl lying in Hiccup's bed.

"You can stop faking it now," he snapped. "I know you're awake."

For a moment longer Heather remained still. Just as Jack had begun contemplating freezing her hair, however, an exasperated sigh slipped past her lips and her eyes fluttered open.

"How did you know?" the spy asked as she pulled herself upright.

"I have a friend who's a, uh... A sleep expert, I guess you could call him. He taught me a few tricks."

Baby Tooth chirped in affirmation, drawing Heather's gaze. She had previously been staring at her hands.

"I guess you didn't meet Baby Tooth yesterday," Jack mused aloud. "Heather, Baby Tooth. Baby Tooth, Heather."

The frost fairy hissed a word she definitely hadn’t learned from Jack.

"Baby Tooth," Jack hissed, earning a pout from his companion.

"So, you really are magic," Heather breathed, tone disbelieving. Jack nodded.

"Yeah." He perched on the end of the bed, eyes still on Heather. "But you already knew that. Why did you lie to those Outcasts last night?"

Heather glared at him. "What makes you think I lied?"

Jack glared right back.

"Unless Astrid saw someone else sneaking around the village the other night. Look, I know you were spying on me and Astrid that night, which means you probably also saw me fly off right after, right?" Hesitantly, Heather nodded. "So why didn't you tell the Outcasts that?"

Heather's eyes were back on her hands, which had gone white with how tightly she was clenching them in the sheets. She started when suddenly one of Jack's hands covered her own, his cool skin brushing against hers delicately.

"Heather," he pressed, "The others want to lock you up the moment they find out you're awake. I'm willing to listen to your side of the story. I don't think you actually wanted to hurt anyone, but you have to talk to me."

Still, Heather refused to speak. With a resigned sigh, Jack withdrew his hand, pulling himself to his feet.

"Fine, have it your way." Turning his back on her, he threw his staff across his shoulders and strode towards the stairs.

"Alvin has my parents."

Jack froze mid-stride. Turning to face Heather, he found the spy still staring at her hands, though she looked nominally less composed than before. Her eyes were swimming and her lower lip was caught between her teeth.

"What about the pirates?"

"There were never any pirates. It was always Alvin and his Outcasts." Finally Heather drew her eyes up. "Those odd jobs I used to do? Buying and selling information. I was good at it, and I could do it while working my main job at the tavern."

Cautiously, Jack approached Heather, not interrupting or pressing for her to continue, just listening.

"Bashem is right in the path between a lot of islands in the archipelago, so my tavern got patrons from a lot of different tribes. It was pretty easy for me to get information from the sailors, especially when they got drunk. Usually all I had to do was ask one or two casual questions and bat my eyes and they would tell me just about anything. Then I just went to a rival tribe with the information and they'd give me some trade goods or livestock or sometimes even gold in exchange.

"I did occasional small jobs for the Outcasts, from time to time. Nothing major, usually just telling them when the richest merchant ships were leaving and where they were going. They didn't pay very much, but they had a lot of requests so it added up. A couple of weeks ago Savage approached me with an offer: Alvin's weight in gold if I would go to Berk and collect information on a seiðmaðr with white hair."

"Me," Jack murmered, mostly to himself. Baby Tooth glowered at Heather from her perch on Jack's shoulder. Fury-hatred-protectiveness rolled off of her in waves. Jack did his best not to let her emotions into his voice. "So you said yes?"

"I said no," Heather corrected. "They thought they could use you to control the dragons. The Outcasts are bad enough now; they'd be much, much worse on dragon-back."

Jack nodded both in understanding and agreement.

"Savage came back a few more times, but my answer was always the same. Then, a few days ago, my parents brought me with them on a fishing trip."

"And the Outcasts attacked you while you were out at sea," Jack finished. Heather nodded. She drew her knees up to her chest and lowered her head.

"I just wanted to help them." Heather's voice began to warble. "I thought if I didn't tell them anything they wouldn't get in trouble, but now Mom and Dad are... They're..." Tremors wracked Heather's frame as she buried her face in her arms. "It's my fault. Th-they're dead and it's all my f-f-fault."

"Whoa, whoa, hey." Jack sat down on the bed next to Heather, placing one hand on her shoulder consolingly. "You don't know that. They could be out there still."

Heather shook her head furiously.

"A-Alvin said h-he'd k-k-kill my parents if he didn't get w-what he wanted," she forced out between sobs. "S-Savage'll be n-nearly back to Outc-cast Island b-b-by now."

Baby Tooth chirped, turning to Jack just as he had been turning to her. They exchanged a look, a plan forming between them without the need for words.

'Good or bad, naughty or nice, we protect them.'

"Don't worry," he said as he offered Heather's shoulder a light squeeze. "We're not going to let that happen." Heather's shoulders did not still, nor did her tears stop falling. She did manage to lift her head from her arms, catching Jack's gaze with bleary, tear-filled eyes. "I think... We might have an idea," Jack continued, earning an affirmative tweet from Baby Tooth. "Do you think you can meet me on the beach tonight?"

After being confined indoors for nearly an entire day, both Hiccup and Toothless had a lot of pent up energy to burn. Once they were in the air they became a blur. They weaved through the village like an obstacle course before taking to the open sea, riding close enough to the ocean surface to feel the stinging spray of saltwater as they raced with pods of thunderdrums just beneath the waves. When they grew bored of that they shot straight up into the sky where they performed complex acrobatic maneuvers in the clouds, Hiccup whooping and hollering while Toothless roared, ((Toothless-Hiccup-strongest-fastest-forever-fly-go-go-go!))

By the time the sun had started sinking beneath the horizon, painting the sky with hues of orange and pink, Hiccup and Toothless still hadn’t completely burned all of their excess energy.

Eventually, though, Hiccup decided that they should return to the academy and check on the other riders. The wind ripped through his tunic and hair as they shot towards the ring, Toothless's tongue flapping at the side of his mouth.

The roar of flames greeted the pair as they touched down outside of the academy gate and Hiccup feared a training accident. When he heard the hiss of steam followed by Fishlegs's taunting, "Quit whining, Snotlout!" he immediately calmed.

"Hey guys," Hiccup greeted as he stepped down into the ring. Behind him Toothless crooned and immediately Stormfly and Astrid dropped down beside the pair, the nadderhead squawking in greeting. "What's going on here?"

"Training exercises," Astrid replied, gesturing to the charred remains of the catapult Snotlout had previously been manning.

"Oh, yeah, Jack mentioned that. How did hand-to-claw combat go?"

The rest of the riders visibly winced while Astrid merely shrugged.

"Not too terrible, although Fishlegs' form needs some work."

"What form?" Snotlout scoffed. "The form of a dead yak, you mean?"

"Hey! I heard that!" Fishlegs snapped, Meatlug letting out a guttural noise that may have either been a growl or a yawn.

Astrid let out a low hum as she dismounted Stormfly. The nadderhead shook as her rider's weight disappeared from the saddle, her quills peeking out from beneath the gold and blue scales on her tail. Astrid's mouth was open to say something more when suddenly a red-orange glow lit up the arena from behind her. Astrid whirled around, Stormfly's head snapping to the side to get a good look while Hiccup and Toothless exchanged exasperated sighs.

"Snotlout, would you quit fooling around!?" Astrid scolded as she took in the sight of Snotlout's rampaging dragon. Hookfang was coated in flames, snarling and spitting at the nearby zippleback while Barf-and-Belch's riders snickered.

Snotlout was sitting a few feet away from his dragon, legs sprawled underneath him as he nursed his bruised bottom with one hand.

"It wasn't me. It was them!" he hissed, jabbing his thumb in the direction of the twins.

"Uh, sorry!" Ruffnut did not look sorry. The halfhearted apology had been uttered through a smirk and her brother was still snickering.

"Yeah, we're still working out the kinks," Tuffnut managed to get out through barely stifled laughter.

Hookfang let out an agitated roar and released a spurt of flame against the wall. He left a scorch mark the size of a gronkle as he whipped his still flaming tail back and forth, coming dangerously close to knocking Fishlegs and Meatlug out of the air.

"Can you calm him down?" Astrid snapped as she gestured to the rampaging dragon. Snotlout rolled his eyes as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Fine. Whatever." Snotlout charged at his dragon.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, not sure what he was expecting his cousin to do. He certainly didn’t expect Snotlout to grab a hold of the flaming dragon's horns and bend them roughly to the ground. For a moment he was prepared to tell Snotlout off for hurting the monstrous nightmare, but Hookfang seemed relaxed, happy even. The flames died instantly and his muscles went slack. A low hum rose from his throat as his tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth.

"Figured that one out yesterday," Snotlout bragged as the climbed into the subdued dragon's saddle. "He likes it."

"Wait, wait, wait. He likes having his horns bent to the ground?" Fishlegs asked, raising one eyebrow skeptically. Ruffnut interrupted before Snotlout got a chance to answer.

"Tuffnut does."

Tuffnut turned to face his sister. "I do?"

Before anyone had a chance to process Ruffnut flew from her saddle and tackled her brother to the ground. She grabbed ahold of the horns on his helmet and pressed his face against the floor of the arena, her knees digging roughly into his back.

"Oh yeah, that does feel kind of nice," Tuffnut drawled. "The dirt's soft."

"Well, it's nice to know my students spent their free time productively setting each other on fire and shoving each other into the ground," Hiccup joked. Astrid shot him a look that was half-annoyed but also half-amused.

"And what did you do with your free time, oh great Dragon Master?"

"What do you think?" Toothless huffed as though to repeat the brunette's sarcastic response. "I tried to work on some new saddle designs for Toothless while we were cooped up, but most of my ideas didn't turn out too well. I'm thinking about shortening the connecting rod, though."

"Mm-hmm." Astrid nodded, but she didn’t really understand. "And what about Little Miss Innocent? Is she still asleep?"

"She was last I checked." Hiccup offered the blonde a shrug. "I left her with Jack and Baby Tooth a couple of hours ago."

The sun was sinking lower and lower now. Casting her gaze to the sky, Astrid could see the pale light of the half-moon peeking out from behind wispy, twilight-painted clouds.

"We should probably be getting back to check on them." Astrid placed one foot on Stormfly's stirrup, hefting herself up onto the saddle in one smooth motion. "And I think these mutton-heads have had enough training for today."

"I agree!" Fishlegs chimed in, raising his bandaged hand. Meatlug licked it apologetically.

The secluded beach where Heather had met with the Outcasts the previous night looked no less ominous under the light of the moon than it had in total darkness. The scene she found herself in was eerily familiar; she was wet, cold, waiting alone in the dark for someone she wasn’t sure would come. Casting her gaze downwards, Heather again took in the sight of the cover of the Book of Dragons. The tome in her hands seemed to grow heavier with each passing moment.

The crash of waves against the sand was the only sound Heather heard for a long while. It reminded her of home, and brought forth a familiar ache in her chest.

'He hasn't left,' she tried to assure herself. She remained still, stoic, staring out into the open sea without letting her anxiety spill into her expression. 'Just be patient. You haven't been waiting as long as you think you have. He'll be here any moment now. We're going to save them. Mom and Dad...'

Heather jumped, heart hammering in her rib cage, as she caught a high-pitched trilling sound from somewhere in the darkness behind her. Even as she spun to face the pine woods to her rear, however, she recognized the sound as the hum of Baby Tooth's wings and knew she’d overreacted. Though as this realization came to her, so did the realization that this sound was accompanied by another, unfamiliar one. It sounded almost like wind-chimes at first, high, almost musical, but without rhythm and out of time with the breezy gusts that had been pulling at her clothes all night.

"Hello?" she called. "Jack, is that you?"

Silence fell. For a moment Heather was prepared to blame an overactive imagination when suddenly the light breeze became a gale, shaking pine needles from the trees and kicking up the sand from the beach. Through barely parted eyes Heather saw a misshapen figure drop from the sky, landing only a few feet from her, and as the wind stilled and the moonlight revealed the figure's features a scream ripped itself from her throat.

Baby Tooth winced as Heather began to shriek. The raven-haired girl backpedaled so suddenly that her foot caught on a bit of driftwood and she fell backwards into the sand, the tome flying from her grasp.

"Whoa, whoa, Heather! Calm down, it's only me!" Jack's voice cried from beneath the icicle-adorned face of the creature. Instantly Heather's scream ceased, her already wide eyes going wider.

"Jack? How..."

She trailed off as Jack offered her his hand. As she grabbed it and allowed the frost spirit to pull her to her feet she could feel a thin sheen of ice coating his skin, tapering off into claw-like points over his fingers.

Jack's face was completely hidden beneath what appeared to be a mask made entirely of ice. A thorny crest sprouted from the red wood over the eyes, spreading upwards and protruding over the edges of the mask where they transformed into sharp, wicked horns reminiscent of Hookfang's. The lower half of the mask was covered in overlapping crystalline plates that descended beneath the line of the mask to cover his chin and neck. The mask's original red color was hardly even visible thanks to the sparse lighting and the thick layers of ice and frost; it looked near-pitch, or, in the fleeting moments when the clouds shifted and the moon lit the area proper, like a very dark purple.

Jack had also covered the soft wolf-skin that was draped over his shoulders. The wolf's ears had been hidden beneath a pair of thick, segmented horns that curled over the back of the hood and helped to keep it in place. Dagger-like icicles sprouting from the fur clinked together musically with every slight breeze and with every movement Jack made.

His staff had similarly been transformed. Where before only a thin sheen of frost had decorated it, now needle-like spikes of ice spiraled down the length, parting only where Jack's hand wrapped around the wood. At the unbent end of the staff these needles tapered off into one long, wicked blade, giving Jack's staff the appearance of a bizarre spear.

"Y-you look like a frost giant!" Heather exclaimed as she willed her heart to stop beating.

"Um, thank you?" Jack spun his staff, and for a moment Heather could see the friendly, gentle boy from the previous day beneath the monster's cloak. "Hopefully the Outcasts think the same thing."

Heather mm-hmmed affirmatively as she bent and groped along the sand for the book.

"There's one more thing." Heather looked up and jolted as Jack suddenly threw something to her. She barely caught the coil of rope as it smacked into her chest. Behind her Jack stepped into water, far enough that his feet were completely submerged with each swell. Heather turned and stared at the snow spirit, clutching the book in one hand and the coil of rope in the other and not understanding why she had either. "Try not to scream this time, all right? It took me a while to recruit this guy."

Nodding mutely, Heather brushed the wet sand from the cover of the Book of Dragons. She placed the rope coil on top of the book and clutched both to her breast as she watched Jack turn his back on her once more, Baby Tooth hovering over his shoulder. For a moment Heather could swear she saw the frost fairy turn to her and smirk mischievously.

Again Jack began to speak, his voice low enough now that Heather was unable to make out what he was saying. At first she assumed he was speaking to Baby Tooth. A few moments later, however, she caught sight of something shifting beneath the water several feet out. The water began to swell and part as a long, snake-like head rose from beneath it. Two huge, pearly eyes blinked at Heather from the top of a long, narrow head with a bulbous sack-like chin. The creature's mouth parted in a low hiss, steam rising from between rows of needle-like fangs.

"...That is a scauldron."

"Mmmhh, yep."

Heather stared at the dragon for a moment longer. "I think I need to sit down for a minute."

Baby Tooth rolled her eyes and began tweeting at the girl.

"Only for a minute. We need to get to Outcast Island fast."

Heather didn’t sit, but she did turn her back to Jack and the dragon. She forced herself to breathe deeply and evenly as she wrapped her head around the fact that Jack had randomly recruited a scauldron to help them on what was sure to be a suicide mission. When she felt she could speak calmly again she whirled around.

"Why a scauldron?"

"Well, I can't really carry you all the way to Outcast Island, and I figured someone would probably notice if we dropped in out of the sky."

The scauldron stared at Heather curiously curiously. For a moment the ebony-haired girl feared that he was wondering what she might taste like.

'Don't be ridiculous, dragons don't eat people, they eat fish, Hiccup and the others said so, they don't eat people, dragons eat fish, dragons don't eat people, dragons eat fish, don't eat people eat fish don't eat people-'

A jolt raced through her body and she jumped back as the scauldron moved towards her.

"Whoa, hey now, don't be afraid," Jack said gently as the scauldron brought his face close to Heather's. The dragon's lipless mouth parted slightly, revealing rows of wicked teeth and doing nothing to calm Heather's rapidly pounding heart. "He's just getting to know you."

The scauldron's nostrils flared, pulling loose strands of black hair towards his muzzle as he took in her scent. The sensation tickled, and despite herself Heather let out a nervous laugh.

"Hold out your hand," Jack urged.

Heather, unable to think to do much else, complied. She held out her palm towards the scauldron and kept it there, just a few inches from the dragon's muzzle. Jack and Baby Tooth watched, enthralled, as the scauldron stared at Heather contemplatively. For a moment time seemed to slow, then the dragon closed the distance, pressing his muzzle to Heather's outstretched hand.

At first Heather was frozen in shock, but as realization dawned and the scauldron pulled back a slow, silly grin began to spread across her face. She pressed her other hand against the scauldron's chin and began to stroke it gently.

"Hey. Hi there... Spout. Are you ready to help us save my parents?"

The newly-named dragon huffed and then drew back, pushing off of the sand with his powerful fins until he was floating freely several feet from the beach.

"The sooner we go, the better," Jack reminded Heather as he held out his hand to her. Heather accepted his hand a bit nervously, not for the fact that he still looked rather intimidating draped in icicles as he was, but because Baby Tooth was glaring venomously at her over Jack's shoulder.

She clutched the book to her chest as the Wind wrapped around the two of them and Jack lifted her several feet into the air, swiftly and gently guiding her to Spout. The sea-dragon watched as Jack lowered Heather gently onto his back between powerful, wing-like fins and when he felt the girl's weight settle he turned growled out, ((Me-go-fast-fast-fast-strong-hold-tight-wingless-careful-hold-safe.))

"Hold on tight," Jack translated from the air above their heads. "Spout's going to go fast."

Heather was quick to comply. She pressed herself down flat against Spout's back, and with a little struggle managed to loop the rope around his neck a few times before fastening it securely to her belt.

"Are you ready?" Jack called. Heather made sure her grip on the book was steady before nodding. "All right, let's go!"

Spout rocketed out into open sea, back skimming the surface of the water as Jack and Baby Tooth flanked him overhead.

Night had already fallen by the time Astrid and Hiccup made it back to the village. Guided by the light of the stars and moon overhead, the pair touched down outside of Hiccup's hut. Hiccup's shoulders were aching from the brimming basket of fish slung over them, and finally he felt tired enough to actually return to his room. Hopefully, he thought, he would be able to collapse in his bed after he fed Toothless.

Thornado was lounging at the base of the steps just outside of the hut and hummed in greeting as the two riders and their dragons approached. Atop his head Wodensfang was perched. The blue scaled terror exchanged chittering sounds with Stormfly and Toothless and let out a stream of satisfied smoke when Astrid offered him a scratch on the underside of his chin.

"So that's where you went, Wodensfang,” she said.

Thornado's wooden feeding trough was filled with fresh fish bones, but Astrid doubted that the chief thought of Wodensfang when feeding his thunderdrum. Without asking permission – or earning more than a halfhearted protest from Hiccup – she flipped open the basket on his shoulders, selected a juicy-looking salmon from the top, and tossed it to the terror who leaped from his perch to catch it mid-air and then swallow it in one gulp.

"There ya go."

"You wanna come in?" Hiccup offered. "I bet Jack's dying of boredom by now."

"Sure." Placing her hands on the underside of Stormfly's chin, Astrid pressed her forehead to the nadder's beak and said, "You wait out here, girl. I'll just be a few minutes."

Stormfly crooned and when Astrid pulled away she settled down into the grass next to the Thornado and Wodensfang, Toothless following his rider inside. When she and Hiccup closed the door behind them the three dragons were exchanging animated growls, squawks, and chirps.

A fire was already roaring in the pit when the two teens entered the house with Toothless, and Stoick the Vast was lounging nearby in an armchair, boots discarded, helm slightly askew, and a series of light snores whistling through his nostrils. Crooning, Toothless tried to approach the viking chief, but Hiccup grabbed hold of Toothless's saddle and tugged him towards the stairs.

"This way, bud," he whispered. "Let's let Dad sleep."

Hiccup led Astrid and Toothless up the stairs as silently as he could with the wood creaking beneath their feet.

"Jack?" he whispered hoarsely as he made it to the top of the stairs. "Jack, we're ba-"

Hiccup froze. His bed was unoccupied, as was the seat next to it. Toothless bounded across the room, placing his front paws on top of the wooden frame of Hiccup's bed and pressing his muzzle to the furs to sniff curiously.

"Heather must have woken up while you were out," Astrid suggested halfheartedly. "Jack probably brought her to the holding cells." It sounded wrong, even to her, but no one in the room could quite place why. Astrid shrugged her paranoia off as a side-effect of her previous encounter with the fearling.

"Probably," Hiccup agreed as he set the basket of fish down next to Toothless's bed.

Immediately the dragon leaped atop the slate, shoving his muzzle into the open basket and swallowing huge mouthfuls at a time. Hiccup smiled, giving the nightfury a light scratch behind one of his head-fins before making his way over to his bed. He flopped down on the pile of furs atop the wooden frame, feeling several small pops along his spine as he did.

Squeezing his eyes tight, he complained, "Urgh, remind me to never stay inside all day ever again. Ever."

With a light chuckle, Astrid replied, "I'll be sure to do that."

She stooped, scooping up one of the crumpled wads of paper Hiccup hadn’t bothered to clean up earlier that day. Carefully she unfurled it, revealing a half-formed sketch that was most certainly not the saddle design Hiccup had claimed to be working on.

"Hiccup?"

Hiccup didn’t move from where he lay on his bed, nor did he so much as open his eyes. "Mhm?"

"Is this supposed to be Jack?"

Instantly Hiccup was upright, eyes wide.

"Wow, this is really detailed," Astrid mused while Hiccup sputtered and blushed. "Why did you throw it away?"

"It wasn't coming out right," Hiccup half-lied as he pulled himself to his feet.

In truth, Hiccup hadn’t even meant for that drawing to be of Jack. He’d begun with the intention of drawing Wodensfang, but his mind wandered and before he knew it he’d drawn the snow spirit. Again. Silently, Hiccup prayed to the gods that Astrid wouldm’t investigate each and every discarded drawing on the floor.

"Wait, another one?"

Apparently the only god that was listening was Loki.

"Jack, Jack, Baby Tooth, and... Oh, look! Another drawing of Jack!"

"Okay, that's enough of that!" Hiccup cried as he snatched the drawings out of Astrid's hands.

e tried to hide the flush on his face as he crumpled the drawings into one large wad, ignoring Astrid's perked brow and Toothless's mocking goff goff goff. Dropping to his knees, he tossed the paper wad under his bed, scooping up the remaining discarded pages Astrid had yet to get her hands on and shoving them after the first.

"I was tired and bored and couldn't decide on anything else to draw, and why am I even explaining this? Just don't-"

Hiccup froze, eyes going wide. Astrid was still staring at him, arms crossed, hips tilted to the side and brow perked. "Hiccup?"

"The Book of Dragons." Hiccup's voice was barely a whisper. Still on his knees he turned to face Astrid and Toothless, an expression of horror on his face. "It's..."

Dread hit Astrid like a lightning bolt.

The pounding of reptilian wings against the ocean wind nearly matched the pounding of Hiccup's heartbeat. His severed leg ached from the constant adjustments he was making to the position of Toothless's artificial tail fin to compensate for the unsteady air currents. Toothless trilled both to comfort his other rider and to urge the other dragons to fly faster. Despite the wind, he knew that he and his rider could be going much faster than they were. Only Stormfly was keeping up with little difficulty.

"I still don't get it," Fishlegs called from somewhere over Hiccup's shoulder. "Heather was in bad shape, and alone. And Jack is magic. How could she have kidnapped him?"

"Maybe she wasn't alone," Astrid suggested. Her voice was much closer than Fishlegs'. "Maybe those Outcasts from yesterday came back, or maybe she had someone else on the island helping her."

"Or maybe," Snotlout growled, "I was right and that guy was a traitor all along."

"Snotlout..." Astrid warned.

"You know what? I bet that he kidnapped Heather and dragged her off somewhere so he could eat her-"

Without another warning Astrid directed Stormfly to glide, upside-down, over Hookfang and Snotlout and before the burly youth got a chance to finish his sentence she plowed her fist into the side of his head, knocking his helmet askew and earning snickers from the twins.

"No... No, I don't think any of that's what happened," Hiccup said as he reviewed the events of the past two days in his head. There was still something they were missing, some vital piece of information. Toothless crooned once more and Hiccup leaned forward, placing his hand on top of the nightfury's head.

"Are we even sure they're on Outcast island?" Fishlegs asked. Hiccup had to admit, it was a valid concern.

"Uh, where else would they be?" Tuffnut asked.

"At the bottom of the ocean," his sister offered jokingly... Hiccup hoped. "In a dragon's stomach, on top of a volcano-"

"Okay," Hiccup interrupted, glaring at the twins over his shoulder, "This is not helping at all."

The twins continued to snicker as Hiccup turned his back on them once more, glaring out into the moon-lit sea ahead of him. A squawk to his left drew his attention.

"Don't worry Hiccup," Astrid assured him. "We'll find them before anything happens."

Hiccup nodded, but looked unconvinced.

"Besides, Jack's got Baby Tooth with him," she continued, a slight smirk pulling at her lips. "As long as she's around nothing's going to hurt Jack."

Despite himself, Hiccup chuckled. "Yeah..."

Astrid was right, of course. Baby Tooth was absolutely devoted to Jack, the same way Toothless was devoted to Hiccup. Though tiny, she was also quite fierce, and she had magic of her own.

Which only led Hiccup to ponder more. Baby Tooth was a lot stronger than she looked, and Jack was no pushover either. So how had Heather managed to take them? The only answer Hiccup found himself able to come up with was that Heather hadn’t taken them and that they left willingly. From there his train of thought devolved into a downward spiral of questions, theories – most of them unpleasant – and half-formed fears, and with each paranoid idea he shot down Hiccup found himself realizing something even more frightening than any of the imaginary scenarios he was creating for himself.

He knew next to nothing about Jack Frost.

Realization hit him like a tidal wave and nearly left him winded. He’d met Jack over a month ago now but hardly knew anything about the white-haired spirit; not where he lived, not whether or not he had any living family, not even how he’d ended up in Berk. How could he begin to guess at Jack's intentions when he knew nothing about him?

Then, for one horrible second, Hiccup began to wonder if Snotlout had been right; not that he thought Jack was a human-eater, but what if he was some kind of monster, a dangerous creature like the ones from the sagas that used human lives as playthings? What if he was a trickster, like Loki, or worse?

Toothless's crooning snapped Hiccup abruptly from his thoughts. As the real world came back into focus he found his dragon staring back at him with gentle, lipid eyes and instantly Hiccup was reminded of that night a few weeks prior, following their encounter with the blue oleanders.

Guilt punched Hiccup in the stomach.

Why was he doubting Jack? Okay, so he didn’t know much about the white-haired boy's history but he knew enough about Jack himself to know he would never betray them. He was kind. He was playful and sometimes mischievous, but never malicious. He was clever and inquisitive and more than a bit childish. Sometimes he seemed lonely. Sometimes he seemed lost. Never once, however, had Hiccup seen him do anything remotely cruel or malevolent.

So maybe he had no idea why Jack had left with Heather without telling anyone, but he did know that Jack must have had a good reason behind it.

In the distance he could see a dark, menacing silhouette rising from the ocean. As the riders and their dragons neared the shape it transformed into an island composed of sharp, jagged grey stone. Blackened trees dotted the otherwise barren land and flocks of wild dragons filled the air overhead.

"There it is," Hiccup announced. "Outcast Island."

The Outcasts lived, for the most part, underground, carving their homes, their shops, their dungeons, and just about everything else into a winding labyrinth beneath the earth. With the wild dragons completely overrunning the surface, they were left without much of a choice. Heather crept along these tunnels as silently as she could. This was not her element. Her form of spying involved being seen and heard. Skulking about in the dark was new to her, and completely and utterly terrifying. The only small comfort was the constant presence hovering over her shoulder.

She could hear echoing growls through the man-made caves, along with the far off pounding of armor-clad feet against the stone. At one point she saw a massive shadow of a man appear in the tunnel just ahead of her and had only a few seconds to throw herself into a slight crevice in the uneven walls before a burly Outcast warrior turned the corner, followed not long after by two smaller fellows.

"Hurry up men!" the larger one had cried as he barreled down the tunnel. "We're under attack!"

"We're always under attack," one of the smaller ones protested as he struggled to keep up.

"Not like this," the third shouted. "It's a jötunn! A frost giant!"

After that the three of them had rounded another corner, stampeding down the tunnels and out of sight as they made their way up to the surface, where Jack was waiting for them. Heather released the breath she had been holding and Baby Tooth tugged at the front of her tunic, urging her onward. The spy nodded and ran down the now-vacated tunnel, heart pounding ever-more frantically in her ears.

Her fingers dug into the cover of the Book of Dragons. A last resort, Jack had called it, just in case she got caught and needed something to bargain with. Of course, Jack's intention was to ensure that she did not get caught. The idea was to not allow the Outcasts to see the book's contents.

All of this so far was Jack's plan; draped in his cloak of icicles, Jack had begun creating a commotion on the surface. Much to Heather's bewilderment, Jack outright refused to kill any of the vikings, though she was sure he could’ve done so easily. He surprised some of the guards, chucked snowballs at them, created patches of ice under their feet, and darted away when they chased after him with swords and axes drawn. Some he trapped in blocks of ice, leaving only their faces exposed so that they wouldn’t suffocate. More and more Outcasts were called to the surface as Jack's antics continued, leaving the tunnels relatively empty. Baby Tooth he’d left at Heather's side for the human girl's protection. Baby Tooth had protested vehemently in her twittering language, but Jack wouldn’t hear it. Eventually the frost fairy had acquiesced, and Heather had watched, bemused, as she chirped something at him and he replied with, 'I love you too,' before placing an air-light kiss on the silver feather adorning her forehead and sending the two of them off.

The Outcasts' tunnels were unfamiliar to Heather. She’d stumbled upon the dungeons mostly by accident, and all of the cells she’d seen thus far were empty. It was hardly surprising to see them at all; the Outcasts were one of the most prevalent tribes involved in the slave trade in the archipelago. But why were so many of them empty? Heather could only begin to guess.

When she suddenly came across a massive chamber lined with rows upon rows of cells, all of them filled with snarling, vicious, wild dragons, the answer slammed into her stomach and she suddenly felt bile creeping up her throat. Bones and flecks of dried blood and scraps of leather and dyed wool littered the floors of the cages and the moment she entered the room the dragons began throwing themselves at the bars and gnashing their teeth at her. Wild dragons, free dragons ate fish; when pushed to the brink of starvation, however, one couldn’t afford to be picky.

Tears stung at her eyes which she swiped away furiously. 'No,' she scolded herself. 'Mom and Dad are still alive. I know they are. They have to be. I just need to find them and we can go home and everything will be fine, just like Jack said.'

Baby Tooth chirped, once again spurring Heather onward.

The two of them continued to travel deeper and deeper into the tunnels. The only lighting came from very widely spaced torches, casting long shadows that made Heather's heart pound, but provided enough cover to duck into should anyone come to check on the dragons. No one did, however, and longer Heather was down here and the further she and Baby Tooth descended into the earth the more nervous she became. With her free hand Heather tugged at her braid, fighting off the urge to look over her shoulder once more. She was unable to shake the impression of eyes following her; not the dragons' eyes, which were hungry and desperate and scared, just like she was, but someone else, something else. It felt evil, and sent shivers up her spine.

"I wish we had a map of this place," Heather commented in an attempt to ward off the near-stifling silence. "I have no idea how we're going to get out again."

Baby Tooth twittered at her, gesturing with her tiny hands and nodding furiously.

'We'll find our way back out,' Heather imagined her saying. 'Just stick close to me.'

Heather nodded and allowed the frost fairy to lead her through the tunnels.

The next chamber they entered was nearly identical to the first, but these cells were all empty. Also unlike the first chamber the moment Heather stepped into the open space the smell of fresh, fertile earth hit her. She staggered forward, almost drunk on the impossible scent; there was no fertile earth on Outcast Island. Yet as she ventured further into the chamber she realized that the smell was not the only strange thing about the room. The air felt warm. Cracks in the stone seemed to breathe. Even the cells – dark and spike-clad as they were – were made more inviting by the presence of thick, healthy tree roots breaking through the stone and nearly covering the walls.

"What is this place?" Heather wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer.

An answer came. "Well, you're in my home, dearie!"

Baby Tooth and Heather yelped in unison as they whirled towards the voice that had called to them seemingly from nowhere. Cackling laughter echoed from the largest cell in the very back of the room.

"Oh, don't be frightened dearies! I don't bite!"

Heather exchanged a nervous glance with Baby Tooth, receiving a shrug in response. Finding no harm in it, Heather approached the cell tentatively. The gate was much larger than those lining the rest of the room, and looked almost grand in comparison. Rather than being welded of broken spears, the bars of the cage were formed into intricate, swirling loops and as she got closer Heather realized that they were not metal at all, but instead some sort of black wood.

'Probably Loki tree,' Heather thought as she peered between the bars. In the shadows of the cell she could just make out the hunched form of an old woman draped in a grey woolen cloak sitting contentedly on the swelling bulge of a massive tree root. In one of her thin, knobbly hands she held an unfinished carving from which the rough shape of a bear was slowly emerging. With the other she held a small, thin blade which she deftly used to slice off chips of wood from the carving and smooth out the harsh angles and corners.

The woman was grey-haired, with bulging eyes and a prominent, hooked nose. A few wispy grey hairs sprouted from her chin and her ears sagged from the weight of the heavy wooden ornaments dangling from them. When she finally looked up from her carving and smiled at Heather the young girl could see she was missing several teeth.

"Well then, dearie, don't stand there all day, I have a lot of whittling to do you know!"

Heather blinked. "Um, I'm sorry?"

"You're here to pick up that special order, right?" With a huff the old woman set aside her carving atop another tree root and hopped to her feet. Wooden beads clacked together on the multiple necklaces swinging from around her neck as she hobbled over to to the cell door and, with only a light tug, swung the door open, inwards. "Come in, come in, I have your product right here."

"M-my product?" Heather turned to Baby Tooth for help, but the frost fairy could only offer her a shrug. Heather stepped inside the cell, eyeing the woman suspiciously as she began to dig through a wooden chest pushed against the far wall of the cell. "Ma'am, you must be mistaken. I didn't order anything from you."

The woman cackled.

"Oh, of course you didn't! It was that young freckle-faced lad!" The woman began to pull out random trinkets – most of them bear themed – and toss them haphazardly over her shoulder. "Placed an order quite some time ago for pickup. Said a young girl would be fetching it for him. What was the name again? Cough? Wheezy?"

"Hiccup?"

"That's the one!" The woman crowed triumphantly. "Young Hiccup Horrendous Haddock. Ah! Here it is!"

From a velvet chord wrapped around her spidery fingers the old woman held aloft a wooden pendant.

"How do you know Hiccup?" Heather asked as the old woman shuffled over to her.

She accepted the pendant with little choice when the old woman shoved it into her free hand and despite the strangeness of the situation found herself admiring the beautiful carving on the front. Two prancing dragons faced each other, claws bared, wings extended and flames spurting from their open maws. Their long, intricate tails curved along the outside of the pendant, the right dragon's tail curving along the top and the left dragon's tail curving along the bottom. When the tails reached the exact top and bottom of the pendant they curved sharply and met perfectly in the center.

"I wanted it to be bears. So much more elegant," the old woman huffed. "But, well, the lad insisted." Suddenly Heather found herself being whirled around and shoved none too gently towards the exit. "Now shoo! Off you go! Business concluded!"

"Wait!"

The old woman didn’t wait. Abruptly Heather was shoved out of the cell. She whirled around, prepared to demand answers, but was met with... nothing.

No cell, just a blank wall.

The air was cold and stagnant again, and the tree roots had vanished.

She and Baby Tooth were alone again in the barren Outcast prison.

Heather and Baby Tooth both exchanged bewildered looks. Breath did not come easily to Heather as she wondered whether she had just had a vision or she was going insane. As she looked down at her palm, however, she found the pendant clasped so tightly in her hand that her nails were turning white.

Relaxing her grip she asked, "What do you think it's for?"

Baby Tooth twittered, shrugging noncommittally as though to say, 'How would I know?'

Frowning, the ebony-haired girl continued to study the pendant. She ran her fingers over the surface of the wood. It felt smooth, with only slight protrusions where the carved dragons danced. It was a little smaller than her palm and heavier than it looked. Heather raised a slender brow, bouncing the pendant a little in her hand to test the weight.

"It's heavy," she commented. Tucking the book underneath one arm, she attempted to pry the pendant open. Her nails scrabbled over the wood, but she could find no seam, no opening. "How do you..." she grumbled, failing to pry open the pendant. "What is this... Ugh!"

Giving into her frustration, Heather slumped back against the now smooth wall. She slid down into a sitting position, letting the book land on the floor beside her with a dull thud.

"This is hopeless," she half-muttered, half-sobbed. "I'll never find them." She glared down at the pendant. "Useless seiðkonur..."

Baby Tooth trilled, hovering close to Heather's face. The raven-haired girl didn’t notice; her gaze was still trained on the pendant. Wings humming, Baby Tooth floated towards the carving. Something about it felt familiar. It reeked of magic, the kind that was very old and very powerful. Suspicion crept into the frost fairy's gut and, after only a slight pause, she reached for the pendant.

The moment her skin made contact with the wood the magic sprung to life.

A startled gasp slipped past Heather's lips as the twin dragons suddenly began to glow with golden light. Baby Tooth twittered excitedly when the carvings came alive, maws parting in a soundless roar and tails intertwining with one another. A seam suddenly appeared between them, bisecting the amulet. When Heather hesitated a moment too long Baby Tooth rested her tiny hands on her fingers and nodded encouragingly. Heather nodded back, and then opened the amulet.

"It's a... compass."

A golden needle woven of intricate knots spun atop the center of a moon-colored dial. At the very top of the dial, in place of the rune symbolizing North, was a seven-pointed star that seemed to glow and pulse in time with her heartbeat. Across the pale yellow backdrop painted images of wolves, dragons, and, of course, bears ran in an endless cycle; quite literally. The tiny figures moved as fluidly as water, leaving in their wake wispy ribbons of mist.

"It's... beautiful," Heather mused as she pulled herself to her feet. "But how's this going to help us? Why did Hiccup order it from that seiðkonur?" After a slight pause, during which Heather and Baby Tooth exchanged curious looks, she continued, "Who was that woman and how did Hiccup know her?"

Baby Tooth chirped as Heather continued to examine the compass. The needle was still spinning aimlessly. The stupid thing was broken! It figured that the one being in this place who could possibly help her would give her a broken compass. What she needed was a way to find her parents!

As though responding to her thoughts, the needle's spinning slowed. It wobbled and danced and then froze, pointing back down the tunnel they’d come from. Excited twittering flew from Baby Tooth's mouth and her wings buzzed restlessly. She began to gesture wildly down the tunnel and suddenly a crazy thought occurred to Heather.

"Wait, is this a magic compass? Will it take me to Mom and Dad?"

Baby Tooth chirped and then gave Heather a firm nod. Without another sound Heather fastened the velvet cord around her neck. Hastily she scooped up the discarded book and then, checking the compass one more time, she took off running down the tunnel towards her parents.

The Outcasts were in a panic. Even from the backs of their dragons high above the island, the Riders of Berk could see that. Snow and ice covered the ground and coated the vikings' weapons and armor, in some cases thick enough that the vikings wearing them were immobilized. Outcasts hurled insults and curses at the open air and at each other. Most disturbing of all, Hiccup thought, were the grotesque ice sculptures that littered the surface of the island.

"Well, we know Jack is here," Astrid shouted over the wind. "And I guess we know where the fearling came from too."

Hiccup nodded, eyes trained on one particularly large shadow-monster frozen mid-lunge.

"All right gang," he cried to the other dragon riders. "Ruff 'n' Tuff, take the North side of the island. 'Legs, 'Lout, take the West side. Astrid, you take the East side and I'll check the South side. Keep out of the Outcasts' sight as much as you can until you spot Jack or Heather. If you spot either of them, let the rest of us know. Don't do anything on your own."

"Got it," Astrid cried.

"Can do," Fishlegs repeated.

The riders flew off separated into their assigned directions. With Toothless's speed and dark scales, staying unnoticed was easy, especially with the thick fog that perpetually surrounded Outcast Island and blotted out the moon and stars. Unfortunately it also made spotting a single person rather difficult. Most of the Outcasts carried torches, giving away their positions, but the surface of Outcast Island was craggy, with deep pits and winding paths cut through the stone and only a few sparse buildings, most of them clustered around the harbor and protected with thick, wooden spikes. There was plenty of cover for one to hide in. With a frustrated growl, Hiccup directed Toothless to fly closer to land.

The Outcasts' cries became more distinct as the pair neared the island. Several times Hiccup feared they’d been spotted only to find the Outcasts swinging their weapons at the frozen fearlings, shattering the ice and releasing the monsters from their prisons. The fearlings shrieked and writhed as they were freed, but the Outcasts paid them no mind in favor of glowering at the shattered ice at their feet. Hiccup watched, stupefied, when one large creature slithered through the air in circles around a pair of bickering Outcasts before slithering off into the shadows.

Toothless growled, muzzle crinkling as he glared at the yellow-eyed monsters. Hiccup said nothing but placed one hand consolingly on his partner's head, silencing him.

“They can’t see them.”

Suddenly Toothless turned sharply without warning, jolting Hiccup in the saddle and taking the lanky viking by surprise.

"Toothless?" he whispered, fearful that the enemy vikings would notice them. "What are you doing, bud?"

Toothless hummed and began to descend. Hiccup was about to yank on the saddle, to level them off, when he caught sight of what Toothless must have already noticed; a figure darted through the shadows, too small to be an Outcast, and too solid to be a fearling.

"Heather!" Hiccup exclaimed, clapping a hand over his mouth as soon as he did. Heather was sticking to the shadows, pressing herself against the rough, broken wall of stone whenever an Outcast came too close. From what Hiccup could tell the Outcasts hadn’t yet noticed her as they barreled past.

'Why are you hiding?' he thought as he and Toothless descended.

Hiccup and Toothless landed at the top of the crag overlooking the ebony-haired girl's position. Hiccup pressed himself low against the saddle while the nightfury pressed his body low against the earth. Heather darted forward again, attempting to cross the space between two stone buildings without being seen. She didn’t make it.

"Hey!"

Heather froze as an Outcast with a coarse, tangled beard and patchwork armor charged at her. Within a moment, however, she recovered use of her legs and spun around, prepared to sprint in the other direction, only to collide with another solid form.

"Well now," the second Outcast growled as he grabbed hold of Heather's braid with one hand and yanked the book from her grasp with the other. "Alvin's gonna be 'appy ta see this."

"Give that back!" Heather shouted, swiping for the book and coming up short. A pained hiss slipped past her teeth as the Outcast tugged sharply on her braid. The Outcast only laughed.

"Or what?"

FWEEET!

"OW!"

The Outcast's grip on both Heather and the book disappeared as Baby Tooth shot forward, jabbing her needle-like beak into his forehead. Heather dove for the book as the Outcast clapped his hands over the bright red spot in the center of his forehead.

"She's gettin' away!" the second Outcast growled as she began sprinting back in the direction from which she’d come, Baby Tooth in tow. He raced forward, grabbing a hold of his companion's beard and dragging him after. "Come on ya lout!"

"Toothless, plasma blast!"

The Outcasts halted in their tracks, throwing themselves to the ground as a ball of violet flame flew overhead and collided with a building. A bright light lit the area as the house collapsed into a pile of rubble and dust and sparks of dying embers, cutting off the path between Heather and the Outcasts. Heather stared, wide eyed, as Hiccup and Toothless dropped from the sky between her and the destroyed building.

"Hiccup..." Heather breathed, sounding even more afraid now than she had when the Outcasts had her.

Baby Tooth trilled, zipping from her side to float in front of Toothless who crooned in response and offered the frost fairy a toothless smile.

"Heather, what are you doing here? Where's Jack?" Hiccup demanded, trying not to sound angry but unable to keep his voice completely calm.

"He is... I was..." Heather took a fearful step back, fingers digging into the cover of the Book of Dragons as she clutched it like a security blanket.

"Why are you doing this?" Hiccup was unable to prevent his voice from rising. "Why are you helping the Outcasts of all people!? What did we ever do to you?"

"It’s not like… You didn’t..." Heather trailed off, the words stopping at her tongue.

Toothless growled and Heather flinched, a low sob escaping from her throat. The shadows around her swirled and danced, and behind her they came alive. Hiccup gasped as he watched a bloated, humanoid figure swathed in darkness swell up behind her, yellow slashes serving as eyes and a mouth and writhing, eel-like fingers reaching for Heather. Toothless continued to growl at the fearling, but as a result Heather only became more afraid. Baby Tooth squeaked and twittered and tugged at Hiccup's furry vest and suddenly Hiccup knew what he needed to do.

He lunged forward, wrapped his arms around Heather's shoulders, and pulled her into a tight hug.

"It's okay," he whispered to her as she stood, frozen, in his hold. "It's okay, I'm sorry I yelled."

Baby Tooth and Toothless exchanged a look. The nightfury warbled, earning a shrug from the frost fairy.

The fearling glowered at him and shrank back. Toothless lunged forward, baring his teeth and placing his front paws atop the smoldering pile of rubble as he snapped at it but the fearling disappeared off in search of a different meal, leaving curling tendrils of greasy smoke in its wake. Tentatively, Hiccup relaxed his hold and looked Heather in the eyes.

"Look, just... Just tell me what's going on, okay? Maybe I can help."

Heather nodded. Swiping away her tears, she began to quietly and quickly relay to Hiccup everything she had told Jack and everything that had happen since arriving on Outcast Island. When she told Hiccup about the seiðkonur his eyes widened in disbelief, but she showed him the compass, the star at the top rapidly flashing with intense white light, and he had no choice but to believe her.

When she finished Hiccup stared at her contemplatively, processing her story. After a long silence he finally spoke.

"All right. We're in." Toothless crooned as Hiccup climbed into the saddle. "The other riders are here too. We just need to go round them up and we can-"

"NO!" Heather cried, hand flying reflexively to her mouth and eyes darting back and forth as she searched for anyone who might have heard her outburst. Volume in check, she continued, "I'm so close now, I can't just go back." Holding up the compass she continued, "Look at how fast the light is flashing. I think that means my parents are close to here. I can't turn back now."

"Heather, this island is swarming with Outcasts. They would have heard that explosion," Hiccup reasoned. "And I don't think those two were waiting patiently on the other side of the house I destroyed for us to finish our conversation. I bet a lot more of them know we're here now."

"Which is why I have to hurry and find Mom and Dad!" Heather argued in a loud whisper. "If Alvin knows I'm coming for my parents he might move them or go ahead and kill them. I have to get to them before that happens!"

She had a point there. Still, Hiccup knew that they would need a lot more than just the two of them if they were going to take on the Outcasts and get her parents back. Stealth was no longer an option.

"Baby Tooth, can you go find Astrid and the others? Bring them back here as quickly as you can." The frost fairy narrowed her eyes at him, and for a moment Hiccup feared she might refuse, but much to his surprise she offered him a firm nod and a salute before zipping off into the night.

"Okay then, backup's on the way," Hiccup said as he helped Heather up onto the saddle behind him. "Hold on tight, this could get a little crazy." Toothless snorted, flashing his passengers a grin. "Come on Toothless, let's go."

With a proud, feral roar Toothless launched himself over the collapsed building and over the heads of the two Outcasts attempting uselessly to dig out the blocked road with their axes. Though nowhere near as fast on the ground as he was in the air, Toothless still outran and outmaneuvered the Outcast warriors with relative ease. His black, streamlined body was nearly invisible in the dark, taking the already frazzled men by surprise and disappearing over high crags and around tight corners before they had a chance to react. Using the compass as a guide, Heather continued to feed the pair instructions.

"There!" she cried suddenly, pointing to a deep depression in the stone.

The three of them barreled towards it, leaping over the heads of a frozen Outcast and fearling. As they did the outline of a dome-shaped cage – all harsh angles and bent metal and twisted spikes – emerged from the gloom. Inside the iron bars a smooth ring had been carved into the island, five more cells down in the pit surrounding the arena. A dragon training arena. A dragon slaying arena.

They did not need to make use of the gate; like the one on Berk, the dome-shaped cage surrounding the arena was attached to a system of pulley's and levers, its weight supported at the top by a thick chain that was currently holding it aloft. Without slowing, Toothless ducked under the suspended gate and dropped down into the arena, eyes narrowed into slits and teeth bared into a silent snarl. Unlike the arena on Berk, this one still reeked of dragon blood.

Using the dim light of the compass as a guide, Heather jumped down from Toothless's saddle. She handed Hiccup the book and began to approach the cells. The golden needle pointed resolutely on the one exactly opposite the gate. She came to a stop before the gate, and stared in disbelief.

It was empty.

The needle of the compass continued to point at the cell, even when she turned away from it. The star at the top pulsed impossibly fast, and it suddenly occurred to Heather what she might try.

She pointed the compass up.

The star stopped pulsing, its light becoming a steady glow.

Her eyes followed the direction of the needle, and her face went white.

"'Ello 'Eatheh," Alvin sneered, showing off his rotten teeth, "Fancy meetin' you 'ere."

With a frightened gasp, Heather backpedaled, nearly colliding with Toothless. On either side of Alvin one of his men stood, each of them holding a bloody, beaten prisoner. The prisoners were bound and gagged, and they slumped in their captors' holds, unable or unwilling to stand on their own. Heather paled.

"Mom! Dad!"

"Let them go, Alvin," Hiccup demanded, much to the Outcast's amusement.

"Or what? Ye'll set yer reptile on me?" Alvin nodded to his men and they produced their rusty blades, pressing them to the throats of Heather's parents. "Ye make one move I didn't ordeh ya too, and I'll 'ave the girl's parents gutted."

Heather flinched as though struck. Hiccup said nothing at all, though his partner did snarl at Alvin, wings flaring and claws digging into the stone. Satisfied smirk still painted on his face, Alvin leaped from the ledge with surprising agility for such a large man, landing directly across from Heather and Hiccup.

"Give the girl the book," Alvin ordered, drawing his sword and using it to gesture between the two teens. "And then you -" He jabbed the sword at Heather. "Bring it to me."

Hiccup's eyes flitted upwards to Heather's parents, to the Outcasts holding them, and to the shadowy figures emerging from the darkness behind the Outcasts. Turning his gaze back to Heather, he nodded resolutely and held the book out to her. She wordlessly accepted it with a resigned sigh.

The satisfied smirk never left Alvin's face. The darkness in the arena seemed to thicken as he snatched the book from Heather and the raven-haired girl couldn’t get out of his reach fast enough. She scurried back to Hiccup's side, heart pounding.

"Now let Heather's parents – and us – go," Hiccup said through gritted teeth.

"I could," Alvin responded, admiring the cover of the Book of Dragons. "Or I could keep the book, and the kid who wrote it."

Toothless reacted before anyone else could. With a deafening scream, Toothless launched a ball of plasma at the Outcast Chieftain. Alvin threw himself to the ground, avoiding the projectile only narrowly and being pelted with rubble and scraps of iron as the cell behind him exploded.

"Men!" Alvin cried, receiving no answer.

Rising to his feet, the Outcast threw himself forward, sword raised above his head as he charged Hiccup and Toothless. Heather shrieked, leaping to the side while Toothless launched his third plasma ball at the Outcast. It struck the sword squarely, sending it flying from Alvin's grip. The blade hit the ground with a noisy clatter, the metal red-hot and hissing.

"Men!" Alvin snarled. "Kill the 'ostages!"

Again, Alvin received no reply from his warriors. Casting his eyes to the top of the ring, he was horrified to find that his men were both unconscious, held aloft in the twin jaws of a zippleback. Tuffnut and Ruffnut snickered to each other, exchanging fist bumps before they cracked their helmets together.

"It's over Alvin," Astrid growled as she and Stormfly stepped into view to the twins' right. Snotlout and Hookfang appeared on the other side, Heather's parents holding one another and sharing nervous looks from where they sat on the monstrous nightmare's back. "You lose, again."

The Outcast's body trembled, rage boiling beneath the surface. With a feral snarl he launched himself not at Hiccup and Toothless, but at Heather. He scooped up his sword, the blade still glowing orange but the hilt cool enough to handle, and swung it at the defenseless girl.

Heather screamed as the blade made contact.

"Heather!" Hiccup cried, spurring Toothless forward.

Heather collapsed against the wall of the arena, clutching her eye and sobbing. She could still feel the heat of the blade as Alvin held it inches from her face.

"NOBODY MOVE!" Alvin bellowed, stilling all of the dragon riders. Astrid glared venomously while Heather's mother had her hands clasped over her mouth, eyes wide in horror.

Fearlings swirled through the air overhead like sharks, invisible to all but the Riders of Berk. They moaned and writhed and fed on the fear everyone felt; Heather's, her parents,' the dragon riders,' and even Alvin's.

"You have the book, Alvin," Hiccup forced himself to speak calmly. "Let her go."

"Do ya want me ta take 'er otha eye?"

Hiccup shut up.

"Get off the dragon."

Hiccup complied, much to Toothless's displeasure. The nightfury whined as as Hiccup unlatched his prosthetic from the stirrup and slid off of the saddle, completely stone faced.

"Now pick a cage, any cage." Alvin chuckled to himself. "That'll be yer new home."

When Hiccup hesitated just the slightest bit, Alvin shifted the blade closer to Hiccup's face, causing her to whimper. Stiffly, Hiccup began to walk towards the nearest cell. Triumph twisted Alvin's features into an ugly grin.

The air felt cold. Snow began to fall. Alvin's blade hissed and sizzled with every fat cluster of snowflakes that landed and evaporated on it. Heather continued to sob quietly, clutching her warped, burned eye.

'I deserve it,' she thought. After all, her carelessness had gotten her parents captured and nearly killed, and now Alvin had Hiccup too. There was nothing she would be able to do now, magic compass or no. Overhead the fearlings cackled, relishing her fear and despair, but then she heard the faintest sound and her fear abated, leaving the fearlings disappointed. The sound high, almost musical – like wind-chimes.

A faint smile pulled at Heather's lips.

"Boo."

Alvin froze as an upside-down, inhuman face appeared inches from his own. Forgetting his hostage he swung the heated blade forward, narrowly missing the icicle adorned figure as it flipped through the air and landed gracefully on its feet beyond his reach. The ice-creature spun a spear in its clawed hands in a display of skill, stopping the weapon with the spear-tip pointed straight at Alvin's hooked nose.

"Frost giant," Alvin snarled, eyes glowing like coals as he took in the horned face and the cloak of dagger-like icicles.

Hiccup stared at Jack, unable to fully take in his new appearance. Hardly anything of Jack was left visible underneath all of the layers of frost and ice. He no longer looked human. It took another few seconds for Hiccup to realize that was probably the point.

Jack slid nimbly out of the way as Alvin swung his sword forward, the ice coating the soles of his feet allowing him to slide along the stone as though he were on his pond. Alvin followed up with a series of brutal swings, none of which connected. For several moments Hiccup watched, enthralled with the display. When the thrumming of tiny, insect-like wings appeared right next to his ear, however, and he turned to find Baby Tooth twittering and gesturing wildly to the other side of the arena, he was reminded of Heather. With Alvin's attention on Jack, Hiccup made his way as stealthily as he could along the wall towards the wounded girl.

Frustration and exertion colored Alvin's face an ugly red-purple. His opponent gave no indication of wearing down or tiring, and the frost giant remained eerily silent throughout the skirmish. Roaring and sending flecks of spittle flying everywhere, Alvin brought his sword down on the smaller figure, only to have his attack sidestepped once more. The glowing blade bit into the earth at his feet and before Alvin was able to pull it free the frost giant tapped the blade with the point of its spear. Instantly, with the crackling sound of crystals forming and hiss of steam, a thick layer of ice engulfed the blade and the stone beneath it.

Alvin grunted as he twisted and writhed and tried to pry the blade loose, but it was in vain. It may as well have been held by iron, or the earth itself – it would not budge. The frost giant stood there, just watching Alvin struggle and making no move to attack him. Though its face had no features, Alvin could imagine the smirk the creature was shooting him.

Temper boiling over, Alvin threw himself at the creature, who leaped straight up into the air over his head. He had only just turned around when a blast of frigid air struck him, propelling him into the wall. His back slammed into the stone harshly, held fast by the crackling ice that was climbing over his arms and legs. It was only a small consolation that the book was still tucked under his arm, now also trapped behind the ice.

The frost giant rushed the immobilized Outcast. Alvin braced himself, expecting the final blow, but as fast as the creature had been moving it was able to stop just short of Alvin, holding its spear poised so that the tip was barely a millimeter from his eye. Alvin did not blink for fear he would slice open his eyelid if he did. After a tense, pregnant silence the frost giant calmly drew his weapon back. Alvin watched as the creature turned its back and flew off through the night sky, pale moonlight reflecting off of the icicles.

Heather and the Riders of Berk were already long gone.

Heather had passed out again, either from exhaustion or pain or from some combination of both. Her mother held her against her chest, stroking her cheek lovingly and smoothing her hair. Astrid continued throwing disbelieving glances at the pair and at the straw-bearded man sitting on the rocky beach beside them. Even after seeing them, Astrid couldn’t quite believe that they were real flesh and blood people. It had been so easy to label Heather as 'the bad guy,' she had never even considered what Heather’s reasoning might be. She hadn’t thought it would matter.

It was infinitely more difficult to see her as just the bad guy now that she was lying unconscious in her mother's arms, injured by the man she had been intending to betray them to. Alvin had struck her with the flat of the blade only, but the flesh over her brow and eye was twisted and mottled and Astrid was pretty sure she’d lost the eye.

The silence that fell over the group was uncomfortable, and Astrid decided she didn’t like it. She wished someone would say something, but had no words herself. Suggesting they leave without Jack was out of the question, and making small talk in light of what had happened seemed inappropriate.

Finally, and to the collective relief of the group, a white-haired figure bounded over the rocks of the secluded stretch of beach where Baby Tooth had directed them to hide. Hiccup's head snapped up first, Astrid noticed, and his eyes lit up.

"Jack! You're all right!"

"That makes one of us," Jack replied grimly as he hopped down onto the stone. "How is she?"

Hiccup grimaced and looked back to Heather. Her mother continued to hold her protectively against her chest, and as Jack stepped into view she eyed the boy with suspicion. Jack had shed the skin of icicles and excess frost that transformed his cloak earlier, and the mask and hood hung at the back of his neck now. Neither of Heather's parents recognized him, he realized.

"She's alive," Hiccup replied. "That's all we know right now."

The Winter spirit nodded, twisting his shepherd's crook nervously in his hands.

"We should probably leave now," Fishlegs suggested. "This place gives me the creeps."

Fishlegs' eyes were to the sky, where what little moonlight was not blocked out by the clouds was instead smothered by the countless humanoid silhouettes mucking about in the air. So the Outcasts couldn’t see them, but Fishlegs could. Huh. Hiccup wondered if Snotlout or the twins saw the same things.

"I agree," Hiccup said as he mounted Toothless. "Jack, do you want to-"

"I'm fine," Jack replied a bit too quickly. Blank-faced, Hiccup watched as Jack approached the water and let out a long, low whistle. The black surface of the water broke, sea foam spraying everywhere as Spout's long neck suddenly rose from the waves.

"You trained a scauldron?" Hiccup asked, staring at the sea-dragon incredulously.

"Not at all," Jack replied as he waded through the shallow water and stepped lightly onto Spout's back. "Heather did. I just watched."

Hiccup continued to stare at the scauldron. The dragon was staring at him curiously, its lips parted but not in any way that was meant to be threatening. It suddenly occurred to him that this dragon looked familiar.

"It's the same dragon from before, isn't it?" Hiccup asked. "The one who gave us its poison."

"He says it's nice to see you too," Jack replied with a low chuckle.

"Hey, if you're done catching up, can we go now?" Snotlout huffed.

Rolling his eyes, Hiccup replied, "Fine, yes, we can go. I hope you don't mind having some extra passengers."

Hookfang was, after all, the largest dragon next to Spout, but a scauldron was difficult enough to hold on to for a healthy, conscious person. Heather's mother wordlessly slid onto the saddle behind Snotlout, cradling her daughter against her, while her father took a seat on Meatlug's saddle behind Fishlegs. Spout pushed off of the shore and slid out into open water, and soon enough the dragons and their riders were racing back towards Berk, leaving Outcast Island far behind them.

Even after the sun rose and the ice began to melt, it took multiple men working at the ice with chisels for hours to get Alvin down. A few of them feared his wrath the moment he was free, thinking he would lash out and possibly kill one of them for allowing the teenagers to escape, but he did not.

The moment Alvin dropped down from the wall, landing on his knees on the stone, he began to cackle. Low at first, and then louder and then it was the deafening, uproarious laughter of a madman. In his hands he still held what he thought to be the key to training his own dragons. As his laughter died down he rose to his feet, still grinning, and flipped the cover of the book open. His right hand man watched as he stared at the first page, smile still stuck to his face, and then flipped to the next one, and the next one. With each page he flipped the smile fell from his face just a bit more and before Alvin had even made it through half of the book it was gone completely.

Suddenly an inhuman roar ripped itself from the Outcast Chief's throat and he snatched the pages from the book, ripping them furiously from the binding before he threw the book to the ground in a fit of rage. Unsatisfied, he snatched the hammer from the hands of one of his men and swung hard, catching him on the side of the head and sending him down with a spray of blood. The other Outcasts leaped back, letting their Chief work out his rage on the one unfortunate soul who happened to have been standing too close.

Savage, perplexed at Alvin's sudden fury, stooped and scooped up a handful of shredded pages. He inspected them carefully, turning them over in his hands, and bit back an incredulous laugh.

Heather had brought them the cover of the Book of Dragons only. The pages were blank.

Chapter Text

When they finally arrived on Berk the sun was just peeking above the horizon and they were all exhausted and dirty. Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut all retreated into their own homes to collapse in their beds. Stoick had been beside himself with worry. Guilt swirled in Hiccup's stomach as he explained to his father what had happened – with some minor changes to his story where Jack was regarded. The chief heard nothing of flying without dragons or magical compasses or fearlings.

Hiccup once again found himself giving up his bed to Heather, who had yet to wake up, while Stoick gave up his own bed to her parents. Jack retreated into the Winter Cove before anyone had a chance to notice.

Considering the night he’d had, Stoick allowed Hiccup to sleep in the next morning. Toothless curled up next to his rider, wrapping the both of them in his wings and tail for a bit of extra warmth. Hiccup would admit, it was actually more comfortable sleeping against the warm, soft body of his nightfury than it was sleeping in his own bed. The sun had risen well into the sky by the time Hiccup woke again.

When he went upstairs to check on his guest he found Heather had left sometime when he was still asleep. His room looked relatively undisturbed, and Heather had even made the bed after herself. On an impulse Hiccup dropped to his knees and checked underneath. The pages torn from the Book of Dragons were still there, the binding still holding the papers together in a neat stack. Hiccup grabbed the book and tossed it on his desk before turning to Toothless.

"We should probably go check up on her,” he said. “You up for some flying?"

Toothless chirped an affirmative.

When the pair of them exited the hut they were met with the sound of carefree laughter and the clacking of wooden swords. In the village square he caught the sight of Torborg, Gustav, Hjordis, Bard, Fridenot and Wulfric running about playing one of their games, along with Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins, Jack, all of their dragons... and Heather. Heather was holding Torborg's toy dragon – the one Jack had made – and with a wide grin on her face made it snarl at Wodensfang. The terror squeaked and flopped down, pretending to be dead.

Suddenly Jack turned, catching a glimpse of Hiccup out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey Hic!" Jack cried, turning to face the brunette fully and waving him over. The others turned to him too, and as Heather faced him Hiccup could see that she had styled her long bangs to fall over her scarred eye.

"Uh, hi," Hiccup said as he approached the group, trying not to stare too intently at Heather. It would go away after a while, he knew. He was used to seeing people wounded in such ways on Berk. It had taken a few weeks for people to get used to the sight of him without his leg. "What're you guys doing?"

"Playing." Gustav had provided the answer while adjusting his slipping helmet. "We're doing the battle between the Guardians and the Monkey King's army."

"And I get to be the stupid Monkey King," Snotlout groused.

"I like being a monkey," Ruffnut chimed in, her brother nodding in agreement.

"You wanna play too?" Torborg asked, staring up at Hiccup with hopeful eyes. "We need a North."

Hiccup turned to Toothless, silently asking permission. After all, they were supposed to go flying once he saw how Heather was. Toothless huffed and butted Hiccup towards the group with his muzzle.

"All right then, who is everyone else playing as?"

"Well, we're playing as the kids," Bard replied. "The little dragons are playing as animals and the big ones are the flying elephants. Astrid's Queen Toothiana and Fishlegs is, uh, Bunnymund. Heather is Katherine, Snowfury is Kailash, and Jack is Nightlight!"

Jack smiled and spun his staff in his hands.

"Whaddya say, North? Wanna help us kick some monkey tail?" he asked, jabbing his thumb towards Snotlout who released an indignant shout.

"Sure," Hiccup replied, accepting a toy sword as it was offered to him. "Sounds fun."

They played until late into the day, when the sun turned orange and began to descend into the sea. At one point the small children had begged the Riders of Berk to let them ride on their dragons, and after much coaxing and some input from Jack they managed to get their wish, though Hiccup had restricted them to flying over the island only, and forbidden any complex or dangerous maneuvers. Torborg had opted to – in lieu of flying – take a swim around the bay with Heather and Spout.

By the time twilight had fallen and the stars had come out everyone was sweaty and exhausted, but in a good way. The group of them lounged about in the grass, watching the stars and the moon. Jack told the children yet another story until they dozed off and one by one the Riders of Berk dismissed themselves, taking Jack’s sleeping minions with them to return to their parents. As Heather left she gave Hiccup and Jack each a warm hug before running off to find her parents, who had spent the day with Chief Stoick and Gobber making preparations for their long trip back to Bashem.

With Heather's departure only Jack, Hiccup, Toothless, and Baby Tooth were left on the hill, enjoying the cool night air. The two boys laid on their backs, side by side – Hiccup with his hands folded across his chest, and Jack with his crossed behind his head – as they admired the view. Toothless was curled up not too far away with Baby Tooth perched on his foreleg. The two occasionally exchanged crooning or trilling sounds and after questioning Jack, Hiccup learned that Baby Tooth was telling his dragon about some place called Punjam Hy Loo.

The day had been so… normal. And fun. It was the furthest thing from what Hiccup had expected when he woke up that morning. He’d been prepared for a lot of awkwardness, eye avoiding, and clipped sentences, but everyone had come together without a thought like lifelong friends. Even Astrid had been friendly and welcoming to Heather, and she’d been the most vocal about exiling the raven-haired girl the night before. And Heather… Despite everything she’d been through she was so warm and outgoing, smiling at all of them. Smiling at him. It didn’t feel wrong to think of her as a real friend.

It was all Jack's fault, Hiccup thought with no trace of bitterness. Still, there was something that had been nagging at him since last night that he hadn’t gotten the chance to address all day.

"Why didn't you tell us what you were up to?"

Jack's gaze didn’t shift from the moon.

"I don't know."

"That's not an answer." Hiccup lolled his head to the side, taking in the sight of the waifish boy illuminated by the moonlight. "You know we could have helped, right? You didn't need to sneak off like that. Why didn't you say anything?"

With a humorless laugh, Jack replied, "I don't know. I guess I figured I could help Heather by myself."

Hiccup studied Jack's features, stomach curling as he did. The sprite was smiling, but it was a thin, strained one that he rarely showed to anyone else. His eyes were half-lidded, somber, the way they often got when he stared at the moon. The Jack that was lying next to him now could have been an entirely different person from the carefree boy he’d just spent the day playing with. But he wasn’t a different person; both were one and the same, but so far only Hiccup was privy to the quiet, melancholic Jack he saw now.

It should have saddened him to see his friend like this, and to a certain degree it did. But at the same time he was kind of… proud. No, maybe proud wasn’t the right word. He was just pleased that, out of everyone, he was the one that Jack trusted enough to show this more vulnerable side. Touched, maybe?

Jack broke the silence.

"But... I am glad you showed up."

Hiccup let out a humorless laugh of his own. "Not that I was much help."

Shaking his head, Jack met Hiccup's eyes for the first time, a genuine smile pulling at his lips.

"That's not true at all. You led the others and did everything you could to protect Heather and her parents. You were even willing to trade yourself for her. If you hadn’t been there…” A frown tugged at Jack’s lips for a fraction of a second before he turned back to Hiccup with his signature smile. “You were brave, Hic."

Shock, incredulity, and flattery battled for dominance in Hiccup's gut. The result ended up making him look constipated and he forced himself to look back up at the moon before Jack could make fun of him.

"And the way you dealt with the fearling was pretty inspired.” Hiccup’s eyes snapped back to Jack’s face at that. “I didn’t realize there were going to be so many of those things on that island. I figured Baby Tooth would be able to keep them away from Heather, but I think that only worked because you’re the one who did it.”

At the mention of ‘that’ Hiccup's face burned. It was just a hug, and just to calm Heather down so the fearling on Outcast Island wouldn’t be able to feed on her. But the fact that Jack somehow knew about that still left him feeling awkward and embarrassed.

“H-how did you… Did Baby Tooth tell you about that?”

"No. Well… sorta," Jack explained casually. "We're connected, so, when she lets me I can see through her eyes, and she can see through mine. It’s still kinda new though, we’re figuring it out.”

Hiccup looked to the frost fairy. Huh. That was good to know. Maybe it would come in handy in the future. It was probably something to keep from Ruffnut and Tuffnut though. No doubt they’d try to convince Jack and Baby Tooth to help them spy on the people of Berk.

“And I think Heather might be starting to get a little crush on you.”

Hiccup started, turning to Jack with eyes as wide as viking shields. Little by little, his face ripened until the redness reached his ears and down his neck all the way to his chest.

“What!?”

Jack chuckled. Pushing himself up, he pulled his knees to his chest to rest his cheek on them, and flashed Hiccup a playful grin.

“What’s with that reaction?” he teased. “I think it’s kind of cute!”

“Wh-wh-why do you hate me? Are you trying to kill me? Is embarrassment your weapon of choice?”

Jack snickered.

“Heather does not have a crush on me! And I’m perfectly okay with that!”

“Aw, does that mean there won’t be a wedding?”

“Jack, stop.”

Jack was still snickering, but to his credit, he did say, “Okay, okay. I’ll stop.”

A beat of silence passed.

“So does that mean there’s someone else you like?”

“Jack!”

Jack threw up his hands defensively, fighting the smirk tugging at his lips.

“Is it Astrid?”

Hiccup opened his mouth to yell at Jack to be quiet, or to argue again… and then snapped his mouth shut again. His face felt uncomfortably warm and he reached up to rub at his cheeks as if he could physically wipe away the blush.

“I… maybe? I’m not sure.”

Jack tilted his head to the side, staring at Hiccup. His smile was starting to falter, mischief fading to make way for innocent curiosity.

“I’ve had a crush on Astrid forever,” Hiccup finally said, after the silence had stretched on for an uncomfortably long time. “Honestly, she’s the only person I’ve ever had a crush on. We didn’t used to get along but… I guess I’m kind of happy with where we are now?”

Despite the rare kisses, their relationship hadn't seemed to become a romantic one. There was none of the usual courting, nor any talk of it. His father had spoken about approaching Astrid's parents at one point but as far as Hiccup knew the chief had never made good on that.

"I can tell you're good friends, at least," Jack reassured Hiccup, eyes going back up to the sky. "That's the kind of person you wanna spend your life with right? Someone you'd call a friend?"

That was probably true, Hiccup thought, but although Jack's words were reassuring he found himself grasping to change the subject. Marriage was not high on the list of things he wanted to spend a lot of time thinking about

"Maybe. I haven't really thought about it. Mostly 'cause I always figured I'd either get carried off by a dragon – sorry Toothless – or set my self on fire or get myself thrown off the island before I got to that point."

Jack’s eyes shot to Hiccup, concern apparent. "Really?"

"No, I was just kidding." Mostly. "Well, all else fails, I could always marry Toothless."

Jack's worried expression transformed into mirth.

"He'd look very handsome in wedding dress."

"And we could raise orphaned hatchlings together."

The boys dissolved into a hysterical laughing fit at the mental image of Hiccup and Toothless living a happy domestic life as surrogate parents to orphaned dragons and from there their conversation shifted to other, equally silly and inane things; what they should do at the academy the next day, the Thawfest games next week, whether or not Snotlout was part hobgobbler. The whole time, however, Hiccup remained acutely aware of how Jack had intentionally redirected the conversation, and though he chose not to bring it up again for fear of pushing the spirit away, he couldn’t help but wonder what sort of life Jack had led that asking for help had never even occurred to him.

The Riders of Berk gathered on the pier early the next morning to bid Heather and her family farewell. Spout's back and long neck just barely poked above the water, showing off the new saddle Hiccup and Gobber had fitted him with. As her parents finished tying down the last of the provisions on the deck, Heather hung back with Berk's teens.

"I can't thank you enough," she said, nervously readjusting her hair. "Especially you Hiccup. You put your life on the line for us. I'll never forget that."

Hiccup smiled, opening his mouth to reply when suddenly Heather wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight hug. He turned to Toothless for help and only received a mocking goff goff goff. It was only a small relief that Baby Tooth was hidden away in Jack's purse so she couldn’t make fun of him too.

"I'm going to miss you," Heather said as she released Hiccup from his hug. Toothless crooned and received a pat on the head from Heather in response. "Both of you."

"Feel free to visit any time," Jack said. "You're always welcome, and the kids are gonna miss you."

Laughing, she replied, "I'd like that."

"Just promise me one thing," Hiccup said. "If you need help again, you'll ask." He threw a glance at Jack out of the corner of his eyes as he said this.

"I will. I promise."

With that, Heather turned. She’d just reached the end of the pier, ready to mount her dragon, when she stopped short.

“Oh, wait!" She turned and ran back to Hiccup's side, undoing the velvet chord around her neck. "Here, this is yours."

Hiccup accepted the compass wordlessly, staring at it and then Heather with pinched brows.

"No, this is yours. The..." Eyes flicking to Stoick and Gobber, he lowered his voice. "The seiðkonur gave it to you."

"But she said that you ordered it," Heather insisted. Reading the stunned look on his face, Heather continued, "You're Hiccup Horrendous Haddock, right?"

Hiccup nodded. "The Third."

"That's who she said commissioned it. I was just supposed to pick it up, I guess."

Heather turned again and ran to the end of the pier. Spout hummed at her as she hopped off of the dock and landed in his saddle, designed so that she could sit or stand with relative ease. With a loud cry, Stoick and Gobber pushed off her parents' longboat and released it to sea. The Wind picked up, with a little encouragement from Jack, and soon the three of them were gliding through the bay, dragon racing side by side with the boat. Heather kept her eyes trained on the pier where the Riders of Berk were waving them off. Not so discretely, Snotlout pantomimed writing on his hand and mouthed the words 'write me.'

Heather shook her head ‘no.’

For what was probably the hundredth time by now, Hiccup turned over the compass in his hands. Toothless watched him, crooning, but Hiccup's focus was entirely on the device in his hands. The needle spun freely now, directionless, while the star's pulse was as steady as a heartbeat.

After dismissing the others from training that day Hiccup had mounted Toothless and retreated to the Winter Cove with Jack and Baby Tooth trailing not far behind. Hiccup dared not study the trinket in his home, where Stoick was liable to walk in on him at any moment. The forge held a similar danger from Gobber, and in any case he doubted any tinkering with the tools there would provide the sort of answers he was looking for. He now sat atop the frost-dusted log that jutted from the smooth expanse of ice that had once been Toothless's fishing pond, turning over the compass and examining every nook and cranny of the strange device.

"What is this thing?" he mused aloud, not really expecting an answer. He flipped the cover shut and it instantly sealed up, the dragon's tails unwinding and the line vanishing from the wood altogether. He touched the carving again and it flared to life, the dragons roaring and twining their tails together as the lid clicked open.

"It feels like celestial magic," a voice said over his shoulder.

Hiccup looked up, not at all surprised that he hadn’t heard Jack sneaking up behind him with Baby Tooth on his shoulder. Minutes earlier the two of them had been chasing Toothless about the cove, skating across the ice and dragging lines through the previously smooth snow with the end of Jack's staff. Now Toothless lounged by Hiccup's feet, tired but content while Jack stood on the log next to him. Without waiting for an invitation Jack plopped down next to Hiccup, laughing when Toothless pressed his muzzle into his white hair and gave him a friendly shnuffle.

"What do you mean by 'celestial magic'?" The lanky viking asked with a raised eyebrow. As far as he knew there was just magic.

"Well, I told you about the Golden Age, right?" Hiccup nodded.

"Yeah, I think I remember you mentioning it once or twice." Or a thousand times. It was one of the children's favorite stories.

"Celestial magic is magic inherited from the stars and constellations," Jack explained. Toothless plopped his head down on Jack's lap and trilled happily as Jack began massaging his head-fins. "Sandy used to be a shooting star, and he gives me the same sort of feeling."

Realization dawned on Hiccup. Jack had told the stories of the Guardians many times at this point, yet only now did Hiccup acknowledge the familiar, casual way Jack referred to them, how he always mentioned them in the present tense. The fearlings had been proven to be real. What else might?

"Jack... do you know the Guardians?"

The spirit's face was blank as he turned to Hiccup.

"Um... yes?" Then, a bit sheepishly, "I... never told you that, did I?"

Numbly, Hiccup shook his head. It felt a bit surreal. Before Jack, Hiccup had never even heard of the powerful beings called the Guardians, yet now they were more real to him than his own gods. After all, while he offered Odin a tribute from his plate each week on Odinsdagr he had never once met the All-Father himself, nor had he ever spoken to anybody who had. The Guardians, as confirmed by Jack, were real flesh and blood creatures; or whatever ancient, powerful celestial beings were made of if not flesh and bone. Suddenly another thought occurred to him.

"You're a Guardian too, aren't you?"

Scratching the back of his neck and offering Hiccup a nervous smile, Jack replied, "Yeah... Sorry, I didn't mean to keep it a secret or anything, I just…"

He trailed off and ended his sentence with a shrug.

Momentarily forgetting the compass, Hiccup asked, "Why don't you ever mention yourself in those stories? Are you..." He paused, considering for a moment. "Are you Nightlight?"

"What?" Jack laughed, waving him off. "No, I'm not Nightlight. I've never even met him. Those stories happened even before I was born."

And Jack was over three hundred years old. Wow.

"I only became a Guardian a few years ago, so I don't really have any good stories about myself," he continued. “And the stuff I got up to before… Well, it’s just not as interesting.”

Besides, if any of the adults overheard him telling stories about himself in the mead hall, there was always a chance they’d put two and two together. Grownups could be oblivious, but they weren’t perpetually stupid.

"I don't believe that for a second," Hiccup pressed. "How did you meet them? That's got to be a good story."

With a dry chuckle, Jack responded, "Some yetis stuffed me in a sack and tossed me through a magic portal."

Toothless's head popped up, head-fins alert, while Hiccup's jaw dropped.

"What!?"

"And then North tried to put on a fireworks show for me. I don't know if you know this, but fire and ice? Not exactly a good mix."

"And you agreed to join them after that?"

"Weeeeeeell... No." Jack shrugged.

((Understatement,)) Baby Tooth tweeted in his ear.

"At first I really didn't want to join. I told them so, but North just laughed and said-" Here Jack mimicked the old Cossack's accent. "Of course you do."

"That sounds familiar," Hiccup drawled, remembering the night his father told him he would begin dragon-slayer training. "But, obviously you joined them in the end, right?"

Again, Jack shrugged.

"So... tell me about it." Then, not wanting to sound too pushy, "If you don't mind."

Jack turned to Baby Tooth. The frost fairy said something in hummingbird, her wings giving an occasional flick.

"All right," he said finally, turning back to Hiccup. "But you have to tell me a story too. One about yourself."

"Uhh..." Hiccup scratched the back of his head. "I- Okay. I mean, I doubt my story will be anywhere near as interesting as yours."

Jack laughed, and then reached forward to ruffle Hiccup's hair. "Oh come on, don't sell yourself so short, Hic." Hiccup swatted Jack's hand away halfheartedly. "I bet you've had some amazing adventures."

Toothless crooned as though to reaffirm Jack's statement and then butted Hiccup playfully with his broad snout. Hiccup smiled, scratching the nightfury on the chin.

The two boys turned to face each other, sitting cross-legged on the frost adorned log. Jack held his staff across his lap and gently traced the spiraling grooves in the wood with his fingers as he began his story.

"Darkness; that's the first thing I remember. It was dark, and it was cold, and I was scared..."

Jack glossed over much of the time that passed between the night he’d woken on the pond and the night Bunnymund and the yetis had kidnapped him. He also nudged some of the details so as not to give away the fact that the events he described had yet to occur; he doubted very much that Bunny would appreciate him mucking with history more than he probably had already. Even so he told the story with the same enthusiasm and detail as he had the other Guardians' stories. Hiccup paid rapt attention, asking only occasional questions such as why the Easter Bunny described in this story was so different from the one in the stories he had told to the village children. Jack explained that it had been a result of the Pooka experimenting with his own enchanted chocolates, prompting Hiccup to vow never to accept magical candies from seven foot tall (ears included) rodents.

As Jack described his first meeting with the Guardians – and Bunnymund's callous attitude regarding the Winter sprite's three-century long isolation – Hiccup found his hands tightening into fists unconsciously, but Jack just laughed it off, assuring Hiccup that it didn’t really bother him all that much. Continuing the story, Jack told them of his very first visit to the inside of Santoff Claussen. Hiccup tried to picture it as the spirit described it; the massive, oak hallways held together with polished brass and filled in every nook and cranny with magic, the fur-covered yetis howling and barking at one another – Jack had yet to receive the Gift of Tongues in this tale – as they quickly and skillfully crafted thousands of wondrous gifts, the small, ugly elves donned in pointed red hoods with silver bells making nuisances of themselves as they darted beneath the yetis feet and got into just about anything they could. Jack had been ushered into North's office before he had a chance to let it all sink in, and from there had been more or less swept along with them as they rushed to Toothiana's domain during Pitch's first attack. He described his first visit to Punjam Hy Loo – the Tooth Palace, tucked away in the mountains of a place called India and wrought of beautiful golden spires and rose colored mosaics – and the swarm of Nightmares that attacked and his rescue of Baby Tooth, then a miniature Tooth Fairy. Hiccup shuddered as he imagined it, but the chill was quickly swept away when Jack got to the impromptu tooth-collecting race he had accidentally instigated among the Guardians.

Despite his normally gentle nature, Hiccup couldn’t help but feel a bit of vindictive justice when Jack admitted to setting a greyhound on the Easter Bunny. He hardly had time to dwell on it before Jack moved on, telling Hiccup about the Nightmare that loomed outside the boy’s – Jamie's – window and how he and the Sandman had given chase. Toothless whined pitifully as the spirit described the exact moment when Sandy had disappeared into a puff of black sand.

"It's okay," Jack assured the nightfury as he stroked his head in slow, soothing circles. "I don't wanna give away the ending just yet, but trust me, everything turned out fine."

Jack hadn’t attended the funeral held for the Sandman, feeling out of place among the fallen star's close friends. That didn’t stop him from creating a sort of memorial of his own; thanks to the temperatures of the North Pole, the tiny frosted figure was even now hanging in the window where Jack had sat that day. Despite the apparent hopelessness of the situation – or, now that Jack thought about it, probably because of it – Bunnymund, the Guardian of Hope, had jumped to the rescue. He roused Jack and the other Guardians, brought them to his lair with the intent of pulling off the most spectacular Easter – some holiday they celebrated in Jack’s world – to date and turning the tide in their favor. Hiccup's gut coiled unpleasantly when he picked up the barely contained admiration in Jack's voice as he talked about Bunnymund's Warren and the egg-painting process, but he said nothing.

A growl slipped past Toothless's bared teeth when Jack reached the part of his story where Pitch had lured himself and Baby Tooth into his underground domain. Here Jack began to gloss over details again, explaining to the lanky viking and the nightfury that Pitch had kept him occupied down there until long after he was meant to return to the Guardians, but failing to describe exactly how. From the way Baby Tooth shivered and played with her hands, Hiccup assumed it had been unpleasant.

The story got no better from there; a strained note entered into the spirit's voice as he explained that the Nightmares had launched a full assault while Jack was being occupied by Pitch, that his recklessness and stupidity cost Bunnymund the last of his worshipers. Anger coiled in Hiccup’s gut; the Guardians should have known that Jack would never betray them, but Jack apparently didn’t see it that way. Baby Tooth crooned, no doubt attempting to comfort him, and with a weak smile Jack continued the story.

Learning that Jack had been human once had Hiccup reeling in shock. Learning that he had died had his chest clenching painfully. Learning how prompted Hiccup to reach forward and grab hold of the spirit's hand, keeping it in a firm grasp despite Jack's evident shock. Jack spoke of his own death so calmly and casually, and with a smile on his face no less! It sent pained stabs through Hiccup's chest cavity and though he was glad that Jack had managed to save his little sister and that becoming a spirit meant that the two were able to eventually meet, he still wished that Jack had lived. He wished that, at least, Jack hadn’t had to die in such a painful way.

Drowning was not fun.

"I'm not actually dead you know," Jack said a bit sheepishly. "I mean, I was but then the Man in the Moon brought me back. I'm not a zombie or anything, he actually made me alive again, heartbeat and everything."

Hiccup nodded. It made sense, and in retrospect he wondered why he hadn’t thought of it earlier. There were old, old stories where exceptional humans who died sometimes, in lieu of going to Valhalla, were revived as elves; not the short, silly creatures that served as North's assistants but the tall, elegant, beautiful residents of the realm of Alfheim. Jack strongly resembled one of these creatures, and learning that it was the god Mani who made him such only further convinced Hiccup of his theory.

Picking up where he left off, Jack told Hiccup and Toothless about Jamie, the boy from Burgess who bore such a striking resemblance to his little sister and who the Guardians still affectionately called The Last Light. Appropriately, Jack's face lit up and his voice regained its usual cheerful tenor when he told Hiccup about that night in Jamie's room when he had gained his very first worshiper.

From there the rest of the story continued smoothly. Hiccup listened with no interruptions – or few, with Toothless bursting out goffing when Jack described the look on the Nightmare King's face when he’d pegged Pitch square in the nose with a snowball, and Hiccup letting out a barely stifled 'snrk' – as Jack told them of the final battle with the Nightmare King. The four Guardians had picked off the Nightmares one by one with relative ease, especially with the children purifying the tainted sands with their belief alone. Eventually they’d managed to back Pitch into a corner, and that was when he made his most desperate move. Melting into the darkness, Pitch seemed to surround the Guardians, though it was only his shadow cast on the walls surrounding them. With their eyes on the doppelgangers, none of the Guardians noticed until a moment too late when the Boogeyman materialized behind Jack, scythe poised to end him with one strike.

Jack calmed Toothless's snarl by telling him of the Sandman's revival, Pitch’s final defeat, and of the snowball fight between the Guardians and the children of Burgess afterwards. Jack closed the tale with his inauguration on the same pond where he had been revived, surrounded by his new believers and his new family.

"...Wow." Hiccup's legs felt a bit stiff and he was shivering from the amount of time spent in the cold, but he didn’t want to move. He continued to stare at Jack, who in turn watched him with expectant eyes. "What happened after that?"

"Nothing exciting," Jack replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "We were all tired and sore after the fight. There was a lot of sleeping for the next few days, and eating. And then we spent several more days getting Tooth's, uh, teeth back. We had her girls to help at that point, but they still had their job to do, and they were only used to carrying one tooth at a time, not whole boxes of them. It was a lot of work getting things back to normal after that. I didn't get to see the kids again for almost a year."

((But Sandy and Mama did,)) Baby Tooth chirped. ((Remember the letters Jamie sent you, Love? They were so cute.))

"Yeah," Jack chuckled, stroking Baby Tooth's silver feather. "They were."

Silence hung in the air for a moment. Dusk had fallen now, and the stars were only beginning to emerge. Toothless yawned, showing off his hollow gums, and thinking it to be an escape opportunity Hiccup hopped off of the log, forcing himself to ignore the rush of blood that sent waves of prickling pain crawling under his skin down his legs.

"Hey, it's time for our evening flight," he said, placing a hand on Toothless's saddle. "Do you want to come along or-?"

"Ah ah ah, Dragon Boy," Jack scolded, looping the crooked end of his staff around the back of Hiccup's neck. "I told my story, now you tell yours."

Hiccup bit his lip. In truth, he’d hoped Jack had forgotten. Originally he’d planned to tell Jack how he and the other riders had founded the Dragon Training Academy, but after listening to the spirit's tale he felt that it wasn’t exactly a fair trade. On top of which he doubted he could recount his story with the same eloquence. Bragi would have been proud of Jack; Hiccup, not so much.

"I... Uhm..." With a heavy sigh, Hiccup sat back down on the log. Toothless settled in the snow next to him, staring at his rider expectantly. "Sorry, this is all I've got."

Retracting his staff, Jack tilted his head to the side the slightest bit, saying nothing but prompting Hiccup to continue with his expression alone. Again, Hiccup sighed.

"This is Berk. It's twelve days north of hopeless and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery..."

Jack tried to be a good listener. He really did. The problem was that, unlike the native residents of Berk, he appreciated Hiccup's dry wit, so whenever the brunette repeated one of his snarky comments that would have most Berkians groaning and shaking their heads in irritation he would instead burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry," he pleaded through his laughter as Hiccup fixed him with an impotent glare. "Please don't unleash your raw viking-ness on me!"

Hiccup's cheeks colored. He cleared his throat and continued the story.

Jack listened with mixed emotions as Hiccup's story opened. On the one hand, Hiccup was very funny, and a much better storyteller than he made himself out to be. On the other, he felt a bit of bitter resentment begin to take root as Hiccup described the dismissive way his father and the people of Berk regarded him back then. Chief Stoick was… kind of weird, if Jack were being honest. He didn’t really get adults at the best of times, and a lot of Stoick’s attempts at reaching out to him just left Jack bewildered. Still, he could appreciate the man was making an attempt. Unlike the version of Stoick in the story. It was hard to imagine Hiccup’s father being so… callous.

Jack still struggled to recall his own parents; his mother was just a voice and his father an empty space in his memories. He wondered what kind of man his father had been.

When Hiccup described his and Toothless's first real encounter, Jack found himself not quite believing it. The image of Hiccup holding a knife over anything – especially a wounded and trapped dragon – simply didn’t register. As Hiccup described the low, pained sounds Toothless made, however, and the fear he read in the nightfury's eyes the scene came together in his mind's eye. It helped that Toothless decided he wanted to act the scene out, pouncing on Hiccup, knocking him from the log, and pinning him down in the snow where he proceed to screech at the brunette as he had in the story. Jack and Baby Tooth covered their ears at the sound, turning their heads away in unison. When they looked up again Toothless was assaulting Hiccup with his tongue.

"Toothless, knock it off! Your breath stinks! Help!"

No help came. Jack simply enjoyed a good laugh at his expense while Baby Tooth cheered Toothless on. Eventually he managed to get his dragon to back off. Returning to his seat, he continued.

Hiccup described the one-sided conversation he and his father had that night, and the disastrous results of dragon training the next morning. Jack listened, enthralled, as Hiccup told him about his return to the forest the next day, and how he had discovered the cove littered with black dragon scales. Again, Toothless helped by acting out this part of the story. He launched himself at the ledge over the pond, pretending to try and escape before gliding over the frozen water. Hiccup stood, pointing out the ledge where he’d watched from and even pulling out his notebook to show Jack and Baby Tooth his first ever drawing of the nightfury while Toothless melted down some of the snow nearby to create a small, heated patch of earth for himself to lounge in.

They continued this method of show-and-tell storytelling. Unfortunately, Toothless took it a step farther than simple playacting and when he regurgitated a half-eaten fish on his rider's lap he fully expected Hiccup to eat it. Jack stared, eyes wide with a mix of horror and amusement as Hiccup forced down a mouthful of half-digested fish, and burst out laughing when a disgusted shudder worked its way through Hiccup's body.

Jack's laughter died and he watched quietly when Hiccup and Toothless recreated their dance. From there Hiccup explained how Gobber had unintentionally given him the inspiration for Toothless's prosthetic tail fluke, and how he’d spent that entire night cutting, sewing, weighing, forging, and crafting the prototype. He described the first short, disastrous flight with it, and the subsequent improvements. He also described his returns to dragon training and how he actually learned more from spending time with Toothless than he ever had from classes with Gobber; with no offense meant towards the blacksmith.

He apparently hadn’t noticed at the time, but looking back as he told his story Hiccup suddenly realized the reason for Astrid’s growing frustration and resentment towards him.

Jack's heart was pounding as Hiccup recounted his first real flight with Toothless. The nightfury-rider pair didn’t act this scene out, but with the way Hiccup described everything from the rush of air to the intense sunlight above the clouds to the spike of adrenaline he was able to picture every detail, and as Hiccup described the moment when his cheat sheet flew off and he and Toothless plummeted from the sky Jack was literally at the edge of his seat, listening intently.

The mood dropped considerably when Hiccup told Jack and Baby Tooth about his reunion with his father, after the Hooligan Chieftain returned from his failed voyage to Helheim's Gate. It dropped considerably more when he lead up to Astrid's confrontation with him in the cove. Fortunately Hiccup was able to bring the mood back up just by being himself.

"...she ran off. I watched her go, weighed my options, and sang the song of my people: ‘Da duh-da, we're dead.’"

The snow sprite doubled over laughing.

Moving on, Hiccup told Jack about his first flight with Astrid, how Toothless had managed to coerce an apology from her before calming and showing her the alternative to fighting dragons. It felt strange and awkward, for some reason, to repeat that night to Jack. Hardly anything had happened, and it wasn’t as though he thought Jack would have some crass comment to make. While Jack would happily tease him to the edge of death by embarrassment and back, he hadn’t once – at least in Hiccup’s presence – made anything remotely close to any of the vulgar comments that Snotlout, Tuffnut, and even occasionally Fishlegs would sometimes make about the opposite sex. Still, with no particular reason in mind, Hiccup glossed over the romantic flight and skipped straight to the moment when he and Astrid had first laid eyes on the Red Death.

His audience was enraptured; it was a strange feeling, but a good one too. Even Baby Tooth was listening quietly and patiently as Hiccup recalled his decision to try and end the war between dragons and vikings, his encounter with Hookfang, not yet named, and finally Toothless's reveal before the entire Hooligan Tribe, including Stoick. Toothless told half of the story at this point, explaining how he’d heard Hiccup's cry of fear from the cove and finally, finally found the strength to climb the high walls on his own. He’d come running to the fish-bone's rescue, only to be swarmed and bound by the vikings present.

Hiccup didn’t tell Jack everything that passed between himself and Stoick immediately after the disaster in the ring, only that he’d accidentally let it slip that only a dragon would be able to find the dragons' nest in Helheim’s Gate.

Sensing that it was now Hiccup who was in need of comfort, Jack reached across the log and placed his hand on the viking's. Hiccup's forge-worn fingers closed around his, and after taking a shuddering breath, Hiccup continued.

Introducing the other teens to their dragons, teaching them to bond for the first time, had been exhilarating. Of the group, Snotlout was the most tentative, unable to keep himself from reaching for a weapon as Hiccup lead the first dragon from its pen, but with Astrid's help he was able to calm them all down and get them acquainted with the creatures who would become their most trusted partners.

With the dragons guiding them, the six teens once again found Helheim's Gate, arriving just in time to save Stoick from becoming the Red Death's meal. Hiccup's voice rose and his arms moved as though of their own volition as he described how he’d rushed into the flames to free Toothless, nearly dying when the Red Death crushed the ship the two of them were on – drowning was not a fun way to die – and was rescued by his father, who told him for the first time in his life 'I'm proud to call you my son.'

The battle with the Red Death was almost a blur; Hiccup recounted as much as he could, from their first blow knocking Astrid and Stormfly from the evil dragon's grip to the torrent of flames it had poured into the clouds attempting to fight Hiccup and Toothless blindly.

"The last thing I remember," Hiccup told them, "Was the Red Death's tail coming down on us, and the feeling that I was falling."

Hiccup woke up in his bed three days later, dressed in clean clothes with Toothless hovering protectively over him and a fancy new spring-loaded prosthetic foot. Here Hiccup actually hopped up on one leg to show off the device. His father showed him the changes they’d already made to the village, how they’d begun using the search braziers to hold mounds of fish to feed the dragons and how the wild ones had begun flocking to the village of their own will. Unsure how to end, Hiccup decided to finish the way he began; with an introduction of his village. This time, however, the dragons were the only positive about living in Berk, not the only negative.

As Hiccup finished, Jack stared at him with awe, shock, and admiration flitting across his features. Even Baby Tooth couldn’t help but fawn a little, though it may have been due to Jack's emotions flooding hers.

"Hic, you're really crazy, you know that?" Jack said with a chuckle. "I can't believe you thought you didn't have a good story."

"You would have told it much better, I'm sure," Hiccup replied with a shrug. This earned him a light bop on the head with the end of Jack's staff.

"You! Stop being mean to yourself." Jack allowed the Wind to lift him from his sitting position, depositing him on his feet in the snow. "That was pretty epic. Right Baby Tooth?"

((What?)) Baby Tooth blinked and looked at her other half. ((...All right, it was a pretty good story, but Toothless did most of the hard work.))

"Uh... epic?" Hiccup shrugged, pulling himself to his feet. "Thanks, but honestly I didn't know what I was doing half of the time. It was mostly thanks to Toothless that I got out of anything alive."

"Oh, what, and you think I did?" Jack countered, swinging his staff over his shoulders. "Hic, you ended a war. You saved a lot of humans' and dragons' lives."

"And nearly died thirteen times while doing it."

Jack bopped him on the head again.

"Ow!"

"Oh shut up, that didn't hurt." Here Hiccup shot the spirit a glare, but Jack gave him a warm smile in return, one that showed off his snow-white teeth. Suddenly Hiccup's mouth felt dry. "Hic, I think your story, what you did, was insanely cool. Quit trying to downplay it."

Hiccup stared, gaping like a fish as he fought to keep his face from going scarlet. Fortunately for him, Jack chose that moment to spin on his heel, hopping into the Wind's embrace.

"Okay, now we can go for that flight. You up for a race?" he taunted, zipping off before Hiccup had a chance to respond. The viking continued to stare after him for several moments, snapped from his stupor only when he heard Toothless huff in his ear. Turning towards his best friend, he found the nightfury shooting him a knowing look.

"...Wh-what are you looking at?" he snapped. Toothless flashed him a toothless smile and goffed.

Weeks passed. The Riders of Berk enthusiastically dove back into their training at the academy, throwing some self-defense and combat lessons into the usual routine. Jack experienced his very first Thawfest, and though the addition of dragon-related events resulted in a tumorous growth on Hiccup's ego, in the end Snotlout kept his crown and Hiccup his friends.

According to Hiccup, the Hooligan tribe had only been living with dragons since the Summer before Jack arrived. Changes were still being made to the village. When one of the older houses was destroyed beneath the weight of a monstrous nightmare – its neighbor succumbing to the weight of a gronkle moments later – Hiccup came up with the idea to mount dragon perches around the village.

"Sounds good," Jack commented idly, not taking his eyes off of Wodensfang as he held the tiny dragon aloft by his paws. "But are you sure you want to go with metal perches?"

"Well, they do need to support the dragons' weight," Hiccup countered, eyes still trained on the sketch on his desk. Jack was sitting up in the rafters, playing with Wodensfang while Hiccup sketched out the preliminary designs. He still hadn’t settled on the number of supports.

"Yeah," Jack replied. "But that could be a problem the next time we get hit with a storm." Then, after a slight pause, "How often do lightning storms hit Berk?"

"Um..." Hiccup's left hand stilled, eyes leaving the sketch for the first time. Turning in his chair, he replied, "We usually get hit by a few bad storms every Summer. Why? What does that have to do with the dragon perches?"

Jack released Wodensfang's front paws and the dragon rolled over in his lap, baring his pale belly for the spirit to scratch. Jack obliged.

"Well you know, lightning's drawn to tall objects. And metal."

Hiccup blinked. "It is?"

"Mmhmm." Jack seemed lost in his own thoughts as he continued to pamper the tiny dragon. "And if you put up a lot of 'em... Yikes."

Hiccup considered the spirit's words for a moment, and then jotted down a note in the corner of his sketch. Jack was a spirit himself, after all, so why should he doubt it if Jack claimed that the god of lightning was likely to strike metal objects?

Using stone instead of metal took more time, and they were unable to put up as many posts as they had originally planned. Not three days after the last one had gone up, however, Berk was hit by a massive lightning storm. Hiccup watched the sparks dance in the sky and wondered what his village might look like at that moment if the lightning were to strike the newly mounted perches.

In his free time Hiccup continued to study the mysterious compass, but he could never get it to respond to him as Heather had. The needle always floated freely, even when he tried to tell it who or what to lead him too. For a short while he considered attempting to disassemble it, but he could find no seams, nor any screws or gears, nothing indicating how it had been put together in the first place. It was almost as though the wood had been grown into its current shape. He showed the device to Astrid and Fishlegs, hoping that the two smartest dragon riders might have more luck than he did. They didn’t. And he didn’t dare show it to the rest of the riders; who knew what Snotlout or the twins might do to or with a magical compass.

In time the compass was forgotten. Though Hiccup still wore it around his neck, the device remained sealed and he gave up the habit of attempting to figure it out. When Stoick commented on it one evening over dinner Hiccup replied that it was a gift from Heather and nothing more. Stoick accepted it without question, but Hiccup couldn’t help the slight, nagging guilt he felt for lying to his father again.

The sky was overcast again. It had been that way for the past few days. Thunder rumbled far off in the distance, but it had been some time since the last streak of lightning. Still, the Riders decided it was too risky to try flying. Even Jack stayed on the ground and under cover when storm clouds were near.

In lieu of dragon training, Hiccup took Toothless and visited the armory. His father had been surprised, but pleasantly so, when he expressed his desire to learn sword-fighting. With Stoick's permission Hiccup browsed the multiple weapons hanging from the walls and the weapon racks, inspecting them one by one and turning them over in his hands to get a feel for them. In particular he looked over the short swords, searching for one that felt right to him. Unfortunately, none of them did. Most of the blades were far too heavy, and the ones that were light enough for him to handle were too light. Others were simply too long. Eventually he settled on one of the lighter blades, though it felt a little awkward in his grip. Maybe later he’d make himself a properly balanced blade. For now, though, he simply wanted to practice.

After dropping by the Hoffersons' hut Hiccup learned that Astrid had received a visit from the red-headed girl, Hjordis, earlier that morning and the two of them had run off to the academy on their own. Surprised, Hiccup mounted Toothless and the two of them followed Astrid's trail towards the arena – at a low altitude, of course.

Whap!

"Keep your guard up!"

Whap!

"Watch your stance. Keep your feet apart!"

Whap!

"That's it, you're getting there!"

Whap!

As the nightfury-rider pair set down outside the ring they were met with Astrid's voice crying out over the sound of metal clashing against metal. Hiccup supposed he should have been surprised to find Astrid and Hjordis exchanging blows with dulled practice blades as he descended into the arena, but he really wasn’t. Remaining silent as he dismounted Toothless, Hiccup took a seat next to Stormfly and watched the two continue to exchange blows, Astrid offering words of encouragement or correction between blows and Hjordis mirroring Astrid's maneuvers to the best of her ability, even with her red hair falling in her eyes and her sweat-slicked hands slowly losing grip on the hilt of her sword.

Eventually Astrid called a time-out. Immediately Hjordis dropped her practice blade and collapsed on the ground where she stood, chest heaving as she sucked in lungfuls of oxygen. When her sparring partner approached her with a full water skin she managed to prop herself up on her elbows and accept the gift gratefully. She drank greedily, not caring when excess water spilled down her chin and pouring what was left over on her flushed skin.

"Hey Hiccup," Astrid greeted as the brunette approached her, having noticed his presence some time ago. She accepted the now empty water skin back with a slight grimace, retying it to her belt before turning to face Hiccup. "What's up?"

"Not much," he replied, left hand drifting to the sheathed blade at his hip. "I was just wondering if you could, uh..."

Astrid's eyes widened at the sight of the sword.

"Really? Hiccup, since when do you care about sword-fighting?"

"Since Outcast Island," Hiccup replied. Toothless hummed behind him as he continued, "I don't want to end up in a position like that again. If Alvin comes back, I want to be able to hold my own against him."

Holding out her free hand, Astrid demanded, "Let me see your sword."

Hiccup complied, unsheathing the blade and pressing the hilt into her outstretched palm. Astrid weighed the blade carefully, giving it a few practice swings for good measure.

"Are you sure you want to use this sword? It feels pretty light."

"Er, the next heaviest one was too heavy," Hiccup admitted sheepishly as he accepted the weapon back.

Astrid hummed thoughtfully.

"All right, I can teach you some things. But, you know you probably won't ever be able to overpower Alvin, right?"

"Oh gods, really? Well, thank you Astrid, you just crushed all of my dreams."

Astrid punched him in the chest.

Astrid taught him the hard way. With every lunge, every jab, and every parry Hiccup ended up with a new bruise. His arms and legs ached and he was forced to discard his fur vest as he was soaked in his own sweat. After a while she declared him on break and resumed practice with Hjordis. The small red-head received the same treatment for a while until it was once again Hiccup's turn. Hiccup wondered how Astrid was able to keep going with no breaks herself. Toothless, meanwhile, kept himself occupied playing with Stormfly. The two dragons exchanged chirps and squawks and chased one another playfully around the arena, unapologetic when they nearly bowled over their humans.

Eventually the distant rumble of thunder had all but faded and the sun began to peak through the clouds just in time to set. The three teens sat side by side at the edge of the ring, exhausted, sweaty, and breathing heavily, their swords scattered on the ground nearby. Hiccup took several glugs from his own water skin before passing it to Astrid, who took a few swallows herself before passing it on to Hjordis. The young girl, once again, drained it completely.

"I don't think I've ever been this sore in my life," Hjordis commented as she smacked her lips. Toothless crooned and sniffed her red hair.

"Yeah, well, you're the one who wanted to learn to fight for real." Astrid took Hiccup's water skin back and shoved it into the brunette's lap. "You up for another round tomorrow?"

"YEEES!" Hjordis's voice came out as a loud, exhausted groan.

"And what about you, Hiccup?" Astrid elbowed Hiccup playfully. "Ready to get beat up by a couple of girls again?"

"Ask me again in the morning. Right now I'm still trying to decide whether or not do dunk my head in a bucket of ice."

Astrid chuckled, leaning back against the edge of the ring. Hiccup's eyes slipped closed, and he was moments away from dozing off when...

"Speaking of ice."

Hiccup's eyes snapped open at Astrid's comment. Immediately he saw what she was talking about; the white-haired figure dropping down into the center of the arena from the raised chain-link net. He sat up just a little straighter as Jack approached, Wodensfang curled around his shoulders. Toothless and Stormfly both raised their heads in greeting and Baby Tooth's wings hummed as she flew to Hjordis, hovering inches from the red-head's face and greeting her in hummingbird.

"Hi Baby Tooth," Hjordis said, a wide grin splitting her face. She sighed contentedly as the frost fairy blew a gentle, chilled breeze directly at her face before floating off to land on Astrid's shoulder.

"Hey guys," Jack said as he came to a stop before them. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"Astrid just spent the last two hours beating on us," Hiccup quipped, jerking a thumb in her direction. Baby Tooth snickered when Astrid elbowed him in retaliation.

"Sword lessons," Astrid replied as Jack plopped down to take a seat next to Hiccup. "Just showing them the ropes."

"And by that she means just barely holding back from killing us," Hiccup interjected, swiping his sweat-matted hair from his forehead. "At this rate I might be able to hold my own against a dead yak by next Snoggletog."

"Actually, you didn't do half-bad," Astrid replied, drawing Hiccup's astonished gaze.

"Uh, did someone else take my place when I wasn't looking?"

"Your stance was good," she explained. "And you have sharp reflexes. I think if we get you a balanced blade you'll do a lot better."

"Only problem; none of the swords in the armory feel right." Toothless cooed and offered his rider a consoling lick on the cheek as Hiccup trailed off into a groan.

Jack hummed thoughtfully and plucked at his rabbit-fur gloves.

"Well... Why don't you just make one?"

"I think that's what I'm going to have to do."

Hjordis leaned forward, a hopeful grin plastered on her face.

"Can you make me one?" she asked as Astrid put her hand on the red-head's shoulder and pushed her back.

Hiccup chuckled and opened his mouth to reply when suddenly he felt something cool touch his cheek. His already red cheeks burned brighter when he saw what it was.

Despite how he seemed to shy away from it when they’d first met, Hiccup quickly came to realize that Jack didn’t actually dislike physical contact; he just wasn’t used to being touched. Knowing that most of the mortals in his world couldn't see or even touch him, Hiccup wondered if Jack sometimes feared that Hiccup or the others would just pass through him. But if that had ever been his worry, it clearly wasn’t any more and he even seemed comfortable enough to reach over and place the back of his hand against Hiccup’s flushed cheek.

"Uh... Jack? What are you doing?"

"You looked hot," Jack replied, no hint of awkwardness or indication that he was teasing Hiccup again. "I thought this would make you feel better."

Hesitantly, Hiccup nodded.

"Thanks."

Wodensfang chittered in his ear and Baby Tooth shot him a glare from her perch on Astrid's shoulder.

The topic strayed after that. They talked about everything they could think of but nothing in particular. Hjordis not-so-subtly brought up how awesome she thought it would be to ride a dragon to which Astrid smirked, tousled her hair, and told her that when she lasted more than five minutes in a sparring match then she would be allowed to get a dragon.

Hjordis looked her dead in the eye and replied very seriously, "Challenge accepted."

Hiccup realized he must have dozed off at one point because before he really knew it the sun had vanished altogether and Hjordis and Astrid along with it. Blearily he took in the sight of Toothless napping next to him, one of his head-fins an occasional flick, and Baby Tooth curled up on top of his head, wings occasionally fluttering in her sleep. The pain in his body had dimmed to a slight ache, though Hiccup suspected it would return with a vengeance the next morning.

The sweltering heat had also died down, and now Hiccup felt rather cold. Gooseflesh covered his arms and every so often a slight shiver wracked his body. Even so, he felt comfortable and had no real desire to move.

No desire, that is, until his gaze shifted and he realized that he was not, in fact, imagining the weight leaning on his shoulder.

Jack dozed, contentedly, with his head resting against Hiccup's shoulder. As Hiccup was the shorter of the two, Jack had to lean over rather far, but he didn’t seem uncomfortable in that position. Both of his bare hands were resting on Wodensfang, who was curled up in his lap, tiny belly rising and falling with each rapid breath. Jack looked so peaceful like this, his features free of the mischievous smirk he normally wore, or the strained, wistful expression he sometimes showed Hiccup. For a spirit of something as harsh as Winter, Jack was awfully gentle. And in his sleep he looked… beautiful.

Realization and horror punched Hiccup square in the chest. His heartbeat thundered in his ears as he tore his eyes away from his sleeping friend.

Oh.

Oh no.

Disgust and self-loathing coiled in his gut. Suddenly Hiccup couldn’t get far enough away from the white-haired boy, no matter how comfortable he felt, no matter how much he liked the way Jack looked with his guard down and the collar of his too-large tunic slipping down his chest, baring more of his pale skin...

He had to get out of there right away.

As gently as he could in his panicked state, he dislodged Jack, laying the spirit in a half-sitting position against the edge of the ring. Wodensfang moved once, but didn’t wake up, and Jack didn’t so much as stir. Hiccup wondered if Jack was really such a heavy sleeper, or if he just felt that comfortable around Hiccup. The second thought made him feel sick with guilt.

Without bothering to wake Toothless, Hiccup fled from the academy. He was barely outside the gate when he felt his stomach heave and he was only just able to hold it back until he’d sequestered himself some distance away from the ring itself. Once he’d located a suitable crevice in the earth he allowed his stomach to reject its last meal, and he continued this way until his stomach was completely empty and was left dry heaving.

After what seemed like an eternity Hiccup managed to get his now cramping stomach under control, tears stinging his eyes.

He knew what occurred, sometimes, when the adult male warriors went on raids. He knew what practice occurred predominantly in other areas of the archipelago, but was not completely unheard of from the Hooligan Tribe. He knew how defeated warriors or prisoners were punished, made an example of, unmanned in the most brutal and humiliating way.

Never once had Hiccup considered doing such a cruel thing to anyone. It was something he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. Yet here he was, thinking about Jack, about touching him, about having Jack under him. Hiccup's stomach clenched, almost sending him into another fit.

He wanted to lay with Jack Frost.

Chapter Text

Hiccup hardly got any rest that night. It didn’t help that Toothless seemed agitated as well, for reasons unknown to the slim viking. Ignoring the nightfury's agitated pacing and pawing at the floorboards, Hiccup struggled to find sleep.

Flying back to the village with Jack on Toothless had been pure torture; the spirit's body was so close and Hiccup could feel Jack's cool breath on his neck. The moment they’d touched down in front of his hut Hiccup retreated inside without so much as a 'goodnight,' slamming the door in Jack's face. He offered his father no explanation as he rushed up to his room, where he immediately threw himself face down atop his bed and screamed into the furs until he went hoarse.

His dreams offered no reprieve; his subconscious tormented him all night with images of Jack. He knew such dreams were normal. Hel, he dreamt of Astrid often enough to not really think much of them anymore. On a rare occasion his dream-lover would be a nameless, faceless stranger, but although these dreams were often hazy and unfocused Hiccup was fairly certain he’d never dreamt of a man before. When he woke the next morning his undergarments were sticky and he felt as though he hadn’t slept at all.

That morning was yet another overcast one. As the people emerged from their homes they expected to find another bountiful haul in the fishing nets. What they didn’t expect was what they found in the center of the village plaza.

"What did you do?"

The question, posed by Jack, had been directed to Ruffnut and Tuffnut, each of whom wore a mask of false hurt as they faced the young Guardian.

"Uh, why does everything have to be our fault?" Tuffnut asked, placing his hand over his chest where he thought his heart would be. His hand was on the wrong side of his chest.

Wodensfang shot the twins a flat look mirroring Jack's.

"There's a massive hole smack in the middle of the village," Jack deadpanned, gesturing towards the offending crater with his staff even as Stoick and Gobber peered down into its depths. It seemed as though the entire village had come out to stare at it and muse over how such a massive hole could have been dug in the middle of the night with nobody noticing. "Who else could have caused that?"

"Maybe Meatlug had a midnight snack," Ruffnut suggested. The moment she heard her name, Meatlug's eyes went wide and her bat-like ears flattened against her skull.

"Please, that's impossible," Fishlegs scoffed as he threw a consoling arm over his dragon. "Meatlug is on a diet."

Jack and the twins raised an eyebrow each, but said nothing.

((ENEMY!))

Jack jolted as Toothless's translated roar echoed in his head. Moments later the black dragon bounded up to the hole, Hiccup following not far behind. Teeth bared in a feral snarl, Toothless lowered his muzzle to the ground and hissed at the darkness.

((Here-enemy-Nest-Killer-here-hunt-strike! Me-track-hunt-find-fight-kill!))

Placing his hands on the nightfury's neck, Hiccup tried in vain to calm his dragon.

"Whoa, Toothless, calm down bud. It's just a hole."

"It's not just a hole!" Bucket's voice echoed up from beneath the ground. "It's like an underground village!"

Peering down, Hiccup caught sight of the addled viking standing in the bottom of the pit. He’d not been there a few moments ago and based on the amount of dirt covering him Hiccup guessed he’d been wandering around down there for quite some time.

One of the vikings broke away from the crowd and ran to the edge of the hole, kneeling on his hands and knees in the dirt. Bucket’s housemate, a short, stocky man with a red beard by the name of Mulch, let out a sigh of relief as he caught sight of Bucket.

"Bucket. Oh, there ya are. I've been looking for you all night!"

"Sorry Mulch," Bucket cried, rubbing his bucket sheepishly. "But I think I've finally found it; my happy place!"

There was no warning, no build up. No chance to respond before the tunnel was flooded with a thick cloud of shredded earth and tree roots. Bucket screamed and the whole village stared in shock as he was vaulted from the hole and landed on a stack of barrels nearby with a pained gasp.

"Bucket!" Jack cried as he, Hiccup, and Stoick rushed to the blonde's side. Bucket sat up appearing to be dazed but giving no indication he was in further pain.

"Are ye all right Bucket?" Stoick asked, offering the man a hand. Bucket didn’t seem to notice.

"Not so happy anymore," the addled viking replied, voice a low whine.

"What happened?"

Bucket looked at the chief with wide, frightened eyes as he pulled himself up.

"Something pushed me out. Something's down there, something big!"

((Enemy.)) Jack blinked, turning back to the hole. Toothless was still there, leaning over the edge and growling, but that hadn’t been Toothless's voice he heard. It sounded farther away, and came out almost like a whisper; a furious, deafening, hate-filled whisper, but a whisper nonetheless. ((Enemy-Earth-Hoarder-me-slice-shred-kill-tear!))

((YOU-DIE!)) Toothless growled as he launched himself into the hole and disappeared into the darkness.

"Toothless!" Hiccup ran to the edge, peering into the tunnel but seeing no trace of the nightfury. Before he could even think about jumping after him the earth beneath his feet began to quake. Astrid and Jack approached cautiously, though Wodensfang was whimpering and digging his claws into Jack's tunic and the other dragons were fidgeting where they stood.

"What is that?" Astrid asked, hand automatically going to her axe.

"I hear someone's voice," Jack replied, softly enough that only Astrid and Hiccup could hear him. "From beneath the island."

"Eh, whatever it is," Gobber said, taking a step back, "It's givin' me the willies."

The hole exploded. Clouds of dirt and bits of rubble and tree roots pelted the gathered crowd. Many of the onlookers fled as the creature emerged in full view of the village, milky eyes gazing sightlessly over those that remained.

The dragon had a massive, bulging head that gave way to a long, whip like body that spiraled even as its bat-like wings held it aloft in the air. Crimson spikes protruded from sleek, charcoal scales. Yellow fangs as long as Stoick's forearm jutted forward from its lipless mouth and inside the teens were able to see row after row of rotating teeth extending all the way to the back of its throat.

"Whoa..." Snotlout breathed. "Look at the size of that thing!"

Everyone was already looking at it, save for Fishlegs who was staring resolutely at the ground.

"Do I have to?" he whined, eyes flitting to the dragon for a brief moment before flitting back to the ground.

Ignoring the husky teen, Astrid took command.

"Dragons! Everyone!"

She, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins ran to their dragons, throwing themselves into the saddles without hesitation. Jack and Hiccup, meanwhile, retreated to Gobber's side. Wodensfang hissed and spat from his perch while the large dragons roared in unison, ((Us-together-nest-fight-protect-fight-fight!))

((Wrong!)) the new dragon screeched. ((Wrong-wrong-not-you-not-you-not-you! Where-he? Where-Earth-Horder-black-evil-cousin-NOT-COUSIN! Me-hunt-him-fight-him-KILL-HIM!))

Gripping Hookfang's horns tightly, seeking comfort, Snotlout threw a glance to the other riders and cried, "Uh, I don't like the way it's eyeballing me."

"Oh, don't worry, it's not just you," Fishlegs called back, swallowing thickly.

"Thanks. Big relief."

The dragon screeched HATRED and FURY and RAGE before spinning in the air and diving back beneath the earth. The riders all stared at the spot where it had disappeared. Jack felt like his heart might burst from his chest at any moment.

Astrid was the first to break the silence. "What was that?"

"Whatever it is," Tuffnut breathed, a wide grin splitting his face, "I want one!"

Ignoring the twins, Fishlegs wracked his brain for the answer. His tongue peeked just past his lips as he played with his fingers.

"If I had to take a guess," he started, eyes furrowed and shudders working their way across his skin. "I'd say that was a whispering death."

"Can't imagine why," Jack murmured, eyes still on the spot where the wild dragon had disappeared.

"Whoa, great name!" Tuffnut clapped his hands over the small, hollow spaces behind Belch's horns that served as his ears. Turning to his sister, he whispered, "So much better than zippleback."

Bucket groaned and fidgeted, clambering up onto a barrel in a vain attempt to put some distance between himself and the whispering death's domain. His eyes were nearly bulging from their sockets and his braided beard swung this way and that as he whirled around atop his post, searching for some sign that the wild dragon would resurface.

"Where'd it go? Why's it here? What's it going to do to us?" he moaned. Then, almost violently, he rounded on the figure next to him and roared, "Why aren't you slapping me to snap me out of this!?"

Mulch swallowed thickly, stealing a quick peek down at the new tunnel before turning to meet the panicked gaze of his housemate.

"Because I'm scared too, Bucket." He had also climbed atop a barrel, and had no current intention of climbing down.

Another tremor hit. Before anyone had gotten a chance to react the earth exploded upwards once more, collapsing a stone dragon perch on top of someone's hut, and in a spray of dirt and rocks the whispering death had surfaced once more, creating a second hole the size of the first in its wake.

It roared, pouring its HATRED and ANGER into its cry and causing the few who remained to shrink back.

"It looks angry." Gobber turned to Hiccup. "Why don' ya do tha' thing where ya touch its nose an' feed it grass?"

Not bothering to correct Gobber, Hiccup cried, "Okay, uh, Fishlegs, what do we know about the whispering death?"

"Boulder class, razor sharp teeth, incredibly strong, hunts from underground."

Tuffnut leaned forward in his saddle and clapped his hands over Belch's ears again so the zippleback wouldn’t hear him say, "Now I really want one."

"So? How do we deal with this thing?" Snotlout called above the whispering death's continuing roar.

"STAND BACK EVERYONE!"

The teens cast their eyes to the sky as Stoick descended towards the village plaza atop Thornado. Strange; none of them had even noticed him leaving to fetch the cobalt thunderdrum. Stoick and Thornado came to hover in the air above the village, both glaring daggers at the invading dragon. The whispering death hissed at them, displeased with their interruption.

"Thornado's got somethin' ta say ta this beast!" Stoick declared, placing his hand on Thornado's muzzle. In response the thunderdrum opened his jaws wide.

((LLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVEE!))

The concussive roar shook the whispering death, but did not knock it from the sky. Shaking off the attack, the wild dragon snarled and spat at Thornado and Stoick.

"I don' nae think it's go' it's listenin' ears on," Gobber snarked.

"All right!" Astrid called over the bellowing of the two hostile dragons. Tugging on the saddle, she directed Stormfly into the air. "Let's run this thing outta here!"

The other dragons fell into formation behind the chief. They and the whispering death circled one another, the Berkian dragons growling, ((Protect-nest-home-OURS-you-danger-bad-bad-leave-you-leave-we-fight-protect-protect!))

Before they could come to blows, however, another cry cut through theirs.

((MMIIIIIIIIIIIINNNE!))

Jack's eyes widened as Toothless burst from the underground tunnels, placing himself between the Berkian dragons and the whispering death. His head-fins were raised and his pupils had narrowed into thin slits. He bared his teeth at the whispering death, screeching, ((You-bad-Nest-Killer-bad-bad-evil-DIE!)) Turning to face the Berkian dragons, Toothless continued, ((My-prey-hunt-mine! You-back-no-steal-you-my-prey-my-hunt!))

The dragons reacted immediately, pulling back so as to give the two dark dragons a wide berth. Their riders struggled and failed to keep their dragons under control.

"What's Toothless doing?!" Snotlout griped as Hookfang pulled away.

"He wants the whispering death to himself!" Jack called above the din. Hiccup stared at him, then at his dragon.

"Well, he can have him," Fishlegs whined as he and Meatlug backed away.

The whispering death's spikes rotated towards Toothless as he snarled, ((Me-your-prey-HAH! Me-hunt-kill-tear-shred-your-bones!))

"Toothless!" Hiccup started forward, reaching for the nightfury, but Toothless did not acknowledge him.

The whispering death launched himself at Toothless. Everyone watched, horrified, as the two dragons began to tear at each other in a flurry of teeth and tails and claws. Eventually Toothless managed to break away and launched three plasma blasts at the whispering death in rapid succession. The whip-like dragon weaved in the air, avoiding all of the missiles and hissing at Toothless. With a furious snarl Toothless beat his wings, attempting to go airborne. However, his prosthetic tail remained locked in place and he was unable to get up more than a few feet before he was earthbound again.

The whispering death glowered at Toothless, milky eyes zeroing in on his tail. ((Hah! You-grounded-flightless-prey! Me-kill-shred-tear-easy! Hah!))

"Gobber, man the catapults!" Stoick boomed as he and Thornado set down next to the blacksmith. "And when that thing is clear of Toothless, fire!"

"Dad, wait!" Before anyone could stop him, Hiccup ran straight into the fray, unheeding of the spike-clad dragon circling overhead. "Toothless, let me help you bud."

His hands had only just made contact with Toothless's leather harness when the nightfury butted him away with an agitated hiss.

"Hiccup!" Jack called, racing forward. Hiccup sat in the dirt, dazed but unharmed, staring after Toothless with a bewildered and hurt expression. He hardly even registered Jack's touch as the white-haired teen pulled him to his feet.

"What? Toothless, what- What's wrong?"

Toothless bounded several paces ahead before he paused, rapidly throwing glances at both his rider and his opponent. After a moment he settled on Hiccup just long enough to roar out, ((My-prey-my-fight-you-back-you,)) before running off again.

Astrid jogged up behind the two boys, brows furrowed and heart pounding. "What was that all about?"

"Those two know each other," Jack whispered, eyes still trained on Toothless. "The other dragon called Toothless 'Earth Hoarder' and Toothless called him 'Nest Killer.'"

"Earth Hoarder?" Hiccup parroted. "Nest Killer?"

Suddenly the whispering death flicked his tail, sending a spray of quills towards Toothless. Toothless attempted to dodge into the air, but his tail gave and he fell right into the whispering death's line of fire. A single quill sank several inches into Toothless's leg, drawing a cry of pain and indigence from the nightfury and a strangled gasp from his rider.

"GOBBER!"

At the sound of the chief's thunderous roar Gobber released the lever on the catapult, propelling a boulder the size of his head at the invader. The projectile knocked the whispering death off balance, staggering him in mid-flight. Furious, the dragon turned on Stoick and Gobber and released a strangled hiss.

The two men had wasted no time in reloading and resetting the catapult.

"Fire!" Stoick roared, and Gobber released a second projectile at the wild dragon, striking him square in the face.

((DIIIIIE!)) he screeched, loud enough that his voice seemed to pierce the clouds. Gobber hefted a third boulder into the cup of the catapult, but never got a chance to fire it. The whispering death whipped and thrashed in the air suddenly, as though in pain, and dove straight towards the ground. Many sets of eyes watched as the earth sank in a snaking line through the village as the whispering death retreated, weaving between two rows of houses before vanishing altogether.

Toothless started after it, gliding towards the mangled earth. As he pawed at the ground, however, it became apparent that the whispering death was not coming back. Cautiously, Hiccup approached the nightfury from behind, eyes on Toothless's injured leg.

"Oh no. You're hurt."

He reached for the whispering death's quill, only to freeze when Toothless jolted suddenly. Toothless hissed, teeth bared as he turned on his rider. As his eyes landed on Hiccup, however, the slit pupils grew and rounded out and his hiss turned into an apologetic purr. Emboldened, Hiccup placed his hands on the quill. At the same time Jack approached Toothless and placed his hands on his head, rubbing slow, soothing circles as Hiccup removed the foreign object.

"There we go," Jack said as the blood-streaked quill slid out. "Are you all right big guy?"

Toothless didn’t answer. Instead he bounded away, racing away from the gathered vikings and following the winding path that ran through the village. He didn’t seem to notice or care about the blood streaking down his leg.

"Toothless, wait!" Hiccup called.

"Where is he going?" Astrid asked as she and the rest of the Riders joined Hiccup and Jack.

Snotlout snorted. "Probably running away to lick his wounds."

"It's not funny!" Hiccup snapped as he rounded on his cousin, Toothless's blood warm and sticky on his fingers. "Toothless could have been killed. He can't fly, remember?"

Snotlout wore a smug look as he asked, “And whose fault is that?"

Astrid, Hiccup and Jack all glared at him venomously while the rest of the Riders continued to stare after Toothless.

"Seriously? Did you just go there?" Astrid spat. The burly teen shrugged.

"Hey, I call it like I see it."

Before the two of them could come to blows, Fishlegs interjected. "Um, does anybody want to talk about what in the name of Thor just happened!?"

Tuffnut was the first to respond, looking rather unimpressed with the turn of events. "Uh, dragon fight. Just another day on Berk."

Fishlegs shook his head. "Uh, not really. It seemed like there was way more to it than that."

"Because there was," Jack replied. "Toothless and that dragon knew each other. They had names for one another, and Toothless didn't want anyone else trying to fight it."

"But why?" Hiccup breathed, turning back around to watch Toothless, who had finally come to a halt atop the hill overlooking the plaza. The nightfury was gazing wistfully into the distance after the trail the whispering death had left. "How do they know each other? Why were they fighting like that?"

"Uh, are we gonna be tested on this?" Tuffnut drawled. "'Cause I'm completely confused." He turned to his sister.

"Well don't look at me," she mumbled, offering her brother a shrug.

Tuning them out, Hiccup turned to once again face his best friend. Toothless continued to stare out at nothing, occasionally kneading the earth beneath his claws as though prepared to fling himself from the cliff edge and give chase. When Hiccup felt a hand on his shoulder he relaxed a bit, suspecting it was Astrid offering comfort. When his gaze shifted, however, and he caught sight of Jack he jolted away from the spirit with a strangled cry, drawing stares from everyone around.

Jack blinked, bewildered by Hiccup's violent response. Quickly he regained his composure and suggested, "I think we should have someone take a look at his leg."

Hiccup nodded, all the while avoiding eye contact.

By the time the sun had set that evening, Toothless still hadn’t calmed. He continued to pace and growl and paw at the ground, even when Hiccup led the nightfury to his second-story bedroom.

"I-I really wish you could just tell me what was going on out there today," Hiccup sighed as he finished retying Toothless's bandage for the third time that evening. Jack would probably be able to get the answer from him, but at the thought of approaching the white-haired teen Hiccup's heart began pounding and his stomach began cramping painfully. Hiccup groaned. No doubt Jack and the others knew something was going on; he had spent the entire day ensuring someone else stood between him and Jack at all times and flinching and jumping away whenever they accidentally touched. He hardly spoke to the other, and whenever Jack tried speaking with him Hiccup replied in monosyllables.

Astrid had pulled him aside earlier and asked (demanded) to know what was going on with him. Fortunately she had been willing to accept that he was just rattled by the fight that had occurred that morning. It was, after all, partly true.

Suddenly Toothless huffed, a low growl rising in his throat, drawing Hiccup from his thoughts, and turned his attention to the stairwell just as a large shadow appeared on the wall above it. Hiccup relaxed as he recognized the shape of his father's silhouette.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy bud," Hiccup whispered, stroking Toothless's scales lovingly as his father ascended. "It's just my dad."

Stoick smiled at the pair as he entered his son's bedroom, offering a light chuckle. "Son, you have a visitor."

Hiccup's heart dropped into the pit of his stomach as he caught sight of the second, much smaller figure as they stepped out from behind Stoick.

"Hey Hic!" Jack offered him and Toothless a friendly wave, Wodensfang chirping at them from his post on Jack's shoulder. "How're you doing, Toothless?"

Toothless huffed dismissively as the white-haired teen approached him and began to scratch his head.

"He's still a little on edge," Hiccup answered in the nightfury's place, keeping his eyes firmly on the bandage wrapped around his partner's leg.

"Don't worry Toothless," Stoick said, following Jack's lead and offering the nightfury a gentle pat on the muzzle. "I think we showed that dragon a thing or two about uninvited guests on Berk. I don't think he'll be coming back anytime soon." The chief paused. For a moment Hiccup thought he might have something more to say on the matter, but instead Stoick turned to Jack and said, "Will you be staying the night, lad?"

Panic seized Hiccup's limbs and he went rigid as he waited for Jack's answer. What should he do? What could he do? If he told Jack not to sleep here, he would definitely be suspicious, but if he did let Jack sleep in his room and had another one of those dreams...

"No thanks." Hiccup bit back a relieved sigh. "I kind of feel like sleeping under the stars tonight."

"...Are you sure lad? There's a rather fierce wind tonight."

"I'm sure," Jack replied. "Don't worry, the cold doesn't bother me that much." He paused, and then added, "And wild dragons don't either."

Stoick sighed. "Very well then."

With that the Hooligan Chief turned and walked out of the room. Hiccup imagined that every heavy footfall he heard from his father going down the stairs his heart was pounding harder and harder.

Perfect. He was alone – nearly – in his room with Jack. So far Jack wasn’t paying him much mind, attention solely focused on Toothless. With Stoick's absence Baby Tooth dug herself out of Jack's purse. Her wings thrummed as she took to the air, giving Toothless a series of agitated chirps and squeaks.

((I can't believe you tried to fight that thing alone you absolute MORON!)) Baby Tooth scolded, earning an irritated glare from the nightfury. Jack smirked as he felt concern-worry-care-fear-relief rolling off of her in waves. ((You're lucky you got hurt, otherwise I'd punch you in the nose!))

((Nest-Killer-BAD!)) Toothless growled. ((Threat-enemy-prey-threat-hunt-he-mine-me-his-we-fight-fight-kill.))

"It doesn't have to be that way," Jack said, stroking the back of Toothless's neck. "We can help."

Curiosity piqued, Hiccup asked, "What are they saying?"

"Baby Tooth was yelling at Toothless for fighting Nest Killer alone," Jack explained. "And Toothless said that he and Nest Killer... belong to each other. That they have to kill each other."

((Does!)) Toothless hissed. ((Nest-Killer-evil-fight-must-kill-claw-tear-fight-Nest-Killer-threat-worry-threat-bad-bad-bad.))

Baby Tooth pouted. ((If he's that bad, we should all fight him.))

Toothless's pupils narrowed into slits and he bared his teeth. Baby Tooth shrank back as he snarled, ((NO! My-fight-MINE-Nest-Killer-hurt-me-fight-my-prey-mine-MINE!))

((You-die,)) Wodensfang hummed. ((Nest-Killer-big-prey-too-big-you-hurt-killed-die.))

((No-strongest-me-fastest-me-not-die-hunt-kill-fight-fight-defeat-Nest-Killer,)) Toothless huffed.

Jack translated it all for Hiccup.

"Toothless..." Hiccup moved his hand from his partner's injured leg to his back. Toothless turned to him, slit pupils widening and a sad croon rising from his throat. "Why do you have to fight it alone? And do you really have to kill each other? I want..." His voice faltered. "I just want to help you, bud."

((Love,)) Toothless crooned. ((Hiccup-Love-no-fight-my-prey-you-Love-not-your-prey-not-your-hunt.))

"He says it's not your fight," Jack translated. Hiccup sighed.

"I don't care if it's not my fight; Toothless, you're my best friend, I want to protect you."

Toothless rolled his eyes. ((Me-strongest-fearless-no-weak-soft-skinned-hatchling.))

"I know you can take care of yourself," Hiccup replied as Jack finished translating. "But I still want to help you."

Toothless huffed and turned away, apparently not caring to carry the conversation any further. Hiccup watched, helplessly, as Toothless heated his stone slate, pacing in tight circles as his flame poured from his mouth, before plopping down on the fresh scorch mark and wrapped his wings over his head, effectively shutting his rider out.

((Stubborn oaf...)) Baby Tooth sniffed. Jack chose not to call her out on the hurt-worry-concern she was feeling.

"Well, at least it was only one spine," he sighed, leaning on his staff. "All things considered, that could have turned out a lot worse, right?"

It took Hiccup a moment to realize Jack was addressing him.

"Er, right." He tried not to act any differently than he normally would, but he found himself unable to meet Jack's eyes. He wished all of this hadn’t happened at once. In fact, he wished it hadn’t happened at all. Between his horrifying, disgusting realization the evening before and the whispering death's attack that morning Hiccup was beginning to go mad.

"Hey." Hiccup went rigid when he felt Jack's hand on his shoulder. He tried not to jerk away this time, even though Jack's touch was sending a searing heat through his skin. "It's going to be all right," Jack assured him, offering a gentle smile. For one horrifying moment, Hiccup imagined covering Jack's lips with his own. "I'm sure Nest Killer's long gone by now."

Jack withdrew his hand, much to Hiccup's relief, and spun on his heel to face Toothless. The black dragon continued to ignore them, even when Jack gingerly placed his fingers on the wounded leg and said, "G'night Toothless. Take it easy, 'kay bud?"

Toothless huffed, but said nothing.

"G'night Hic." Jack turned to face him once more. "See you at the academy tomorrow."

Hiccup only barely managed to mumble out a 'mm-hmm.'

Jack quirked an eyebrow, wondering not for the first time that day what was wrong with the brunette. With what had happened to Toothless that morning, he supposed it was not surprising that Hiccup had been out of it, but the expression on Hiccup's face at the moment struck him as one of guilt, not worry.

"You don't have to be so hard on yourself." Hiccup flinched, and Jack smiled softly, thinking he had hit the nail on the head. "It's not your fault Toothless got injured."

"Uh, um... Right..." Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Thanks."

Jack beamed. He plucked Wodensfang from his shoulders, earning a tiny squeak of protest, and handed him over to Hiccup. "No problem."

Hiccup wordlessly accepted the blue terror, not at all minding when Wodensfang's talons dug into his tunic as he scrambled up onto his shoulders. It was a distraction; from the clueless, innocent spirit flitting out of his window, frost fairy in tow, from the stubborn, proud dragon sulking in his room, and from his own hectic, confused, messed up life.

Once Jack and Baby Tooth were long gone Hiccup flopped down on his bed, earning an indignant squawk from Wodensfang. The terror climbed off of his stomach and crawled over Hiccup's furs. Lolling his head to the side, Hiccup found Wodensfang's face inches from his own. "Do you ever have days like this?"

Wodensfang blinked, tilting his head to the side and humming.

"No, I didn't think so."

Jack didn’t sleep that night. Curled up in his snowbank, staring up at the slate sky – the clouds overhead had yet to break – he kept replaying that day's events in his mind and attempting to decipher them.

Hiccup had been acting strangely since the night before. Jack had been shocked when he slammed the door in his face, but eventually managed to rationalize it as Hiccup being eager to return to the warmth of his hut; Jack hadn’t meant to fall asleep against the lanky teen and was feeling a bit guilty for chilling him like that. He’d meant to apologize that morning, but then the whispering death attacked and Jack forgot all about it.

As Hiccup's bizarre behavior continued, however, Jack was becoming less and less certain that it had anything to do with him accidentally falling asleep on the shorter teen. All day Hiccup had been avoiding eye contact with him, flinching every time he came close to touching him... The longest sentence Jack had managed to wrest from Hiccup all day had come when he was translating for Toothless after Hiccup fixed his bandage. Jack seriously doubted that his little slip the previous evening could have offended Hiccup that much...

Could it?

A tightness formed in Jack's throat and he rolled over onto his side, half-burying his face in the snow. He knew he shouldn’t rank his friends, but in the privacy of his own mind – or to Baby Tooth, from whom he kept no secrets – he would admit that he liked Hiccup the best out of all of the dragon riders. He was smart, brave, funny, kind and, despite how down-to-earth and serious he tried to be most of the time, the kid knew how to have a good time; never before had Jack met anyone who could keep up with his aerial antics.

It hurt to think that he might have offended Hiccup so much that the dragon rider no longer wanted to have anything to do with him. Jack didn’t usually worry about offending others, but that was mostly because for three centuries there was hardly anyone for him to offend. He really had no idea whether or not he’d crossed a line. Maybe falling asleep on someone was a grave insult in viking culture. Or maybe he just drooled on Hiccup.

Jack hummed thoughtfully. He wished North was there, or Tooth or Sandy. As much as he loved Baby Tooth, she was not much better at social interactions than he was. With a sad sigh, Jack allowed his eyes to slip closed as he attempted once again to fall asleep, despite his aching chest.

Hiccup was thankful to wake the next morning with dry sheets. The very last thing he wanted to do first thing when he woke up was beg a terrible terror to keep its mouth shut.

"Morning Wodensfang," he groaned as he lazily rubbed his sleep-fogged eyes.

A chirp came from somewhere to his right.

"Morning Toothless."

Silence.

"Toothless?"

Again, he was met with silence. Suddenly Hiccup was wide awake. He threw himself from his bed, nearly tripping over his own prosthetic foot. Wodensfang watched as he scrambled, donning the familiar appendage clumsily in his haste. Half-sprinting and half-limping, Hiccup rushed out of his house, praying to the gods that he would find Toothless on the roof, eagerly awaiting their morning flight.

The gods didn’t hear him, or if they did then they were ignoring him outright. Toothless was gone, and Hiccup had no doubt about where his best friend had gone.

"He went after him," Hiccup lamented, eyes on the sunken trail Nest Killer had left in his wake the previous day. "Alone."

With Astrid's help, Hiccup had managed to gather the rest of the Riders and Jack in the academy ring. Most of them had been sympathetic... most.

"Maybe Toothless just went for a morning flight," Snotlout teased, a goading smirk plastered on his face. "Oh that's right, he can't!"

Snotlout's derisive laughter was cut short when a snowball exploded across the side of his head. Now the twins were howling and he was left sputtering and cursing as he swiped clumps of snow and ice out of his hair and stinging ear.

"Hey!"

"You deserved it, mutton-head," Jack growled, stepping forward to meet Snotlout's glare as the burlier teen attempted to tower over him.

"Guys, this is not the time for this!" Astrid snapped, stepping between the two. "We need to focus on finding Toothless right now. Snotlout can get his butt kicked anytime."

"Hey!"

"Toothless must be looking for Nest Killer," Hiccup mused aloud, ignoring all three of them. "We find him, we find Toothless."

Nervously, Fishlegs raised his hand. "Um, what do we do if we find Nest Killer first?"

"Well," Hiccup replied with a shrug, "We train him."

"You know he's got 'Killer' in his name, right?" Tuffnut asked.

"Yup." Turning to Fishlegs, Hiccup asked, "Fishlegs, is there anything about the whispering death in the Book of Dragons that can help us?"

Fishlegs hummed, poked his tongue out a bit, and flipped open the tome. The new cover cracked as he flipped through the pages, searching for the section regarding the ground-dwelling dragon.

"It can shoot razor-sharp spines from any part of its body," he read aloud.

"And how's that gonna help us?" Astrid snapped.

"Well, it would help if we stayed away from those," Fishlegs snapped back.

"Or," Tuffnut offered, "We could get near them and use Ruffnut as a human shield." He trailed off into a snicker, which was cut short as Ruffnut slammed her heel into his knee. "Ow! My knee cap!" Then, still holding his hurt knee and hopping on the opposite foot, "That's new. I like it."

"...No wonder the boars didn't want them any more," Jack murmured.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and turned back to Fishlegs. "This dragon must have a weakness."

"Actually, no. Yeah, it says right here: No known weaknesses."

Tuffnut leaned over Fishlegs's shoulder, admiring the illustration on the page. "Ha. I really love this thing."

"Do we really need to find a weakness?" Jack asked. "Couldn't we just, you know, talk to him?"

"Maybe you can," Snotlout growled. "The rest of us don't have freaky spirit powers."

Baby Tooth began chittering at him, shaking her tiny fist as she yelled in hummingbird.

Looking around, Jack asked, "Would anyone be opposed to me turning him into a Snot-cicle?"

He received a mixed reply of 'nopes,' 'nuh-uhs,' shrugs, and head shaking.

"Cool." Jack pointed the crooked end of his staff at Snotlout, who immediately put up his hands in a disarming gesture and began to back away.

"Okay, Frosty, let's not do anything too hasty..."

"Okay, that's enough," Hiccup snapped as he climbed into Stormfly's saddle. "Can we just go, please?" He took Astrid's hand as she reached for him, helping to pull her into the saddle. "We don't know how much time we have."

"Don't worry Hiccup," Astrid assured him. "We'll find him."

With that she directed Stormfly out of the arena, the others following close behind.

The trail left behind by Nest Killer lead the group to Berk's vast forest. They were forced to fly low most of the journey, so as not to lose sight of the sunken terrain midst the evergreen trees. Eventually their journey led them to the northern part of the island, at the line where the trees had begun to thin somewhat. There they found two massive holes in the earth, not unlike the ones Nest Killer had created in the center of the village.

Hiccup was the first one on the ground when the riders landed, Jack touching down just after. Without the slightest bit of hesitation Hiccup was at the edge of the hole, peering down into the tunnels.

"Uh, Toothless? Toothless!" he cried, voice echoing through the whispering death's domain. An owl hooted somewhere not far off, but that was it; Hiccup received no answer from his dragon or from the whispering death.

Snotlout eyed the shredded soil skeptically. Then, crossing his arms and rounding on the others, he said, "How do we even know the whispering death made these holes?"

With a roll of her eyes, Astrid replied, "So you think it might be the other twenty-five hundred pound rock-eating dragon we're following?"

Jack had to fight to keep from laughing at the stupefied look on Snotlout's face.

"I know what you're-" Snotlout stopped, unsure. "Don't try to confuse me!"

"But it's so hard not to," Jack mock whined, Baby Tooth snickering alongside him. Snotlout shot him a dirty look.

"Shut it, Frosty."

"Look at this." Hiccup's voice drew everyone's attention. All eyes were on him as he rose from where he’d been kneeling at the edge of the hole, holding a small, yellow fang in his fingers. "He must have lost a tooth."

"Is it sharp?" Tuffnut asked, buzzing with excitement. "If it is, I want it. I like sharp."

His sister grinned and clapped her hands together. "Yeah, sharp is good."

"Think about this," Fishlegs moaned. "Hundreds of those spinning together, ripping through dirt and tree roots, discarding rock like it's not even there."

((Where?))

Jack's head snapped up. Turning to the closest person, he asked, "Did you say something?"

Snotlout raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no."

Suddenly Stormfly's head cocked to the side. She squawked, clawing at the dirt beneath her feet in agitation. ((Run-danger-fear-hunted-bad-fear-bad-bad!))

Noticing her partner's frantic pawing, Astrid spun on her heel, facing the deadly nadder. "Stormfly, what's wrong?"

((Danger-us-in-hunted-fear-bad-danger-bad-run!)) Barf-and-Belch hissed, much to the bewilderment of his riders.

((Wheeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrre-hhheeeeeeeeeeeee? Ssssssmmeeeeeeeeeeelllll-hhhhiiiiiiiimmmm!))

Suddenly Jack knew what was going on.

"Guys, get away from the hole."

"What? Why?" Snotlout growled.

"Nest Killer's coming back! I can hear his voice!"

As though on cue, the ground beneath their feet began to quake. Baby Tooth landed on Jack's shoulder, balling her tiny fists in the coarse material of his tunic. The riders scrambled back, putting some distance between themselves and Nest Killer's lair. The rumbling and the hissing grew louder, pebbles on the surface began to bounce and quake, and the dragons' agitated crowing and pacing became frantic.

Fear-stubborness-pride-Love-protectiveness-anxiety rolled off of Baby Tooth in waves, even as she clung to Jack for dear life.

((Yyyoooooouuu-ssssmmeeeelllllll-Eeeaaaaaarrrrrrrrtttthhhhhhh-Hhhhhooooaaaarrrrdddeerrr! Iiiiiiiiiiiii-sssshhhhhrrrreeeeeeeedddd-yyyoooooouuuuuu!))

"Looks like we beat Toothless," Snotlout whimpered nervously.

"Yeah," Astrid whispered, "We win."

The ground exploded upwards, and in a spray of discarded soil and shredded tree roots the rogue whispering death appeared once more. Right in front of Fishlegs.

"I'm not feeling like a winner," he squeaked.

((What-you?)) Nest Killer roared as he brought his bulbous head down towards the husky viking. Fishlegs flinched, shying away from the spines as the whispering death examined him. ((You-fat-juicy-wingless-you-not-prey-you-not-Earth-Hoarder.))

"H-hi, sir," Fishlegs offered meekly. "Love the teeth."

Nest Killer reared back, and Fishlegs immediately took the opportunity to scamper away.

((Not-you-not-you-not-younotyounotyou!)) the whispering death shrieked. Once again he reared back, spiny tail whipping back and forth as he plowed into the earth below him. A huge cloud of dust erupted from the ground in his wake, blinding the teens and sending them into a coughing fit.

"I-" cough "-hate it when he does that!" Snotlout growled. "Can you at least tell my why he does that!?"

((Earth-Hoarder-hunt-kill-HATE!))

"Maybe to hunt?" Fishlegs offered, receiving only blank looks in response. "Maybe because it's cooler?" Still only blank looks; blank, expectant looks. "Maybe to look for water?" The ground shook again and suddenly nobody's attention was on Fishlegs, though the husky teen did not seem to notice. "Or maybe because he can't stand the pressure of everybody always expecting him to have the answers!" he wailed, arms flailing.

Tuffnut cupped his hand around his mouth, leaned towards his sister, and sang, "He's losing it!”

"I know," she chuckled. "It's awesome."

The ground exploded again and Fishlegs ran shrieking as Nest Killer surfaced once more. Tuffnut, on the other hand, had to be held back by his sister before he could attempt to run up and pet the very hostile creature.

Hiccup stared at the angry, hostile dragon resolutely.

Then he took a step towards it.

"Do you actually have a plan?" Astrid called. "Or are you just trying to get yourself killed?"

Hiccup paused mid-stride and turned to face her. "If I can train it, it'll leave Toothless alone."

"Right," Snotlout smirked. "So you are trying to get yourself killed."

Hiccup was given no time to counter. He suddenly heard Nest Killer's roar right behind him and the moment he whirled around he was met with a spray of dirt. Instinctively, he held out his hand to the rapidly approaching dragon and turned his head away.

The others watched with the same kind of morbid fascination that came from watching a shipwreck. Hiccup's form was completely swallowed by a cloud of dust, and all that was visible of Nest Killer was his whip like tail.

Jack felt his heart clench as he stared at the spot where Hiccup should have been standing, Baby Tooth trilling from her perch on his shoulder. When the smoke cleared, however, he let out an audible sigh of relief as he saw that Hiccup had not been eaten and that Nest Killer was lying on the ground right in front of him, sightless eyes trained on the brunette and muzzle just inches away from his outstretched hand.

((What-you?)) Everyone stared in amazement as the whispering death neared Hiccup, nostrils flaring as he took in the viking's scent. ((You-wingless-you-smell-strange-dragon-scent-dragon-you-what-caution-strange-EARTH-HOARDER-not-Earth-Hoarder-what-you?))

Hesitantly Hiccup looked up, meeting the milky eyes of the whispering death. Neither of the two moved for several tense moments. Then, without warning, Nest Killer pulled back. Once again he dove into the ground, ripping a new tunnel through the earth and ignoring Hiccup as he ran after him.

"Okay..." Hiccup hummed as he came to a stop beside the new hole.

"Um, I know what you're thinking," Astrid said as she approached the brunette, drawing his attention for all of two seconds. "And the answer is no."

Hiccup jumped into the hole. His prosthetic squeaked as he landed at a crouch at the bottom.

With a scoff, Astrid asked, "Why does he always do that?"

"Oh man..." Fishlegs shuddered, nervously approaching the edge of the hole and throwing glances to the other teens. "I'm so glad I'm not down there with him right now." Suddenly he was shoved forward. "Whooooaahhh!"

Astrid shot Snotlout a disapproving look as he grinned remorselessly at her. "Oops. Whoa!"

The look Astrid gave Jack as he shoved Snotlout was only slightly less disapproving. Offering her a nonchalant shrug, he imitated the burly teen. "Whoops."

Snotlout and Fishlegs landed in a tangled heap behind Hiccup. The lanky teen shot them a bemused look as they struggled and shoved one another and pulled themselves gracelessly to their feet.

"Ah, thanks guys." Hiccup turned his back on them, eyes scanning the tunnel left behind by Nest Killer. "Kinda surprised you two were the first to volunteer."

"Yeah." Fishlegs laughed nervously. "W-we didn't want you to have to face that thing all alone, right Snotlout?"

Snotlout ignored them in favor of pounding on the dirt wall with his fists and glaring at the white-haired figure peering over the edge of the hole. "When I get outta here I'm making you eat that staff, ice brain!"

((Hunt-where-he-find-track-hunt-Earth-Hoarder-where-find-where...))

Snotlout whirled around and Fishlegs flinched, a whimper escaping his throat as Nest Killer's hiss echoed through the tunnels. Hiccup's eyes scanned the area ahead of them; the new tunnel the whispering death had carved cut right through several already existing tunnels. Torn tree roots sprouted from the uneven walls, illuminated by the sparse sunlight filtering down from the entrance.

"This thing's been busy," Hiccup muttered, mostly to himself, as he began walking.

"Quick question: why are we down here again?" Fishlegs asked.

"Well," Snotlout answered in his cousin's place, "This idiot jumped and we fell."

Shooting Snotlout a glare, Fishlegs said, "Um, we were pushed, and you're the one who pushed me."

"This is where Nest Killer spends all of his time," Hiccup said, in answer to Fishlegs's original question. "There's gotta be something down here that can help us."

Snotlout eyed his surroundings skeptically. "Like a rope?"

((Smell-strangers-wingless-here-smell-Earth-Hoarder-not-Earth-Hoarder-where-you-where?))

The three teens jumped as Nest Killer's hiss came again, much closer than it had been a few minutes ago. Whipping around to his right, Hiccup caught a glimpse of a thorny tail disappearing around the corner.

"There it goes," he hissed, gesturing to the others. Ducking his head, Hiccup climbed into the second tunnel, prosthetic squeaking in protest as he traversed the uneven ground. "Let's follow it."

Snotlout and Fishlegs remained where they were, both staring innocuously at the walls and the ground. Hiccup turned, shooting them a raised brow. Fishlegs was the first to catch it.

"Oh, you were talking to us?"

"Fishlegs, new dragon," Hiccup argued, gesturing down the tunnel. "You love this stuff."

Fishlegs grumbled and reluctantly began to trudge behind Hiccup. "I hate that about me."

Giving up on escape, Snotlout huffed, crossed his arms, and followed the two geeks as they descended into the lair of the whispering death. "I hate that about you too."

"I hope they're all right down there."

Jack tossed a glance to Astrid. The blonde appeared uncharacteristically nervous, and not without reason. Turning his own gaze back to Nest Killer's tunnel, he wondered whether or not Hiccup actually had a plan in mind for if he came across the whispering death again.

"They'll be fine," he said, sounding surer than he felt. "They've got Hiccup."

"Right." Astrid rolled her eyes. "They've got a reckless idiot whose first thought when he sees a giant hole in the ground is 'let's jump down there and chase the giant spike-covered dragon that lives in it.'"

"Says the girl who rides a spike-covered dragon," Jack chuckled. Baby Tooth nodded, wings trilling as she hovered between the two. "Just watch; he'll come out of there riding on Nest Killer's back."

((I think he's gonna get eaten.))

"Shush."

Despite the heavy atmosphere, Astrid laughed. Even if she was unable to understand Baby Tooth's language she was able to figure most of it out simply through context. Crooking her finger, she offered her hand as a perch for the frost fairy, and smiled when Baby Tooth touched down, wings giving an occasional flick. Astrid stroked the silver feather atop her head and received a delighted coo in response.

Silence passed between them; it was not an uncomfortable one, exactly, but it was not comfortable either. Vaguely Jack was aware that the twins were roughhousing again, tumbling in the dirt while Barf-and Belch hissed, ((Annoyance-exasperation-you-hatchlings-you-calm-together-you-stop.))

"Hey Astrid?"

"Yeah?"

"Um, this might sound like a weird question, but do you, uh, do you know if I've done anything to piss Hiccup off?"

Astrid blinked. "To do what?"

"Did I do anything to make him angry?" Anxiously, he twisted his staff in his hands. "He's been acting weird since last night and I thought he might have said something to you."

Sadly, Astrid shook her head. "No. I tried to ask him about it earlier, but he just said he was worried about Toothless."

She sounded unconvinced.

Nodding, Jack replied, "That makes sense…"

In truth, he didn’t believe it any more than she did, and she could tell. Baby Tooth took to the air once more as Astrid gingerly placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it so much," she said, offering him a small smile. "Once we get all of this sorted out he'll go back to normal. And if he doesn't I'll have a word with him."

Jack laughed as she removed her hand from his shoulder in order to pound her fist into her open palm.

The sound of frantic footsteps below drew their attention. Abandoning their argument, the twins ran to the ledge, joining Astrid and Jack as they stared down into the tunnel. Seconds later Hiccup appeared from the shadows, followed closely by Snotlout and Fishlegs.

"Are you all right?" Jack called down. He’d been addressing Hiccup, but Snotlout was the one who answered.

"We're about to get eaten!"

The twins grinned like lunatics.

"Did you see the whispering death? Was it cool?" Tuffnut asked. His sister elbowed him roughly to the side, leaning down where he had been a moment ago.

"Did you touch it?"

He elbowed her back, and slapped her for good measure. "I wanna touch it!"

"Can we talk about this later?" Fishlegs cried before they could resume their earlier brawl. "We really need to get out of this hole."

As though to emphasize this, the crumbling of earth reached their ears and when Astrid looked up she saw two massive pines collapse into the ground. The earth bulged and then sank in a winding trail as Nest Killer closed in on them.

"Yeah you do!"

Without waiting, Jack dropped himself down into the hole. He grabbed hold of Hiccup's wrist, not missing the way the brunette tensed at his touch, and then propelled the both of them out. Fishlegs and Snotlout wasted no time either. Even before Hiccup had been set down at the top of the ledge Snotlout had dropped to one knee, cupping his hands for Fishlegs to use as a foothold and hoisted the hefty teen up. Astrid grabbed hold of his hand and the twins each grabbed hold of her, helping her to lift Fishlegs out of the tunnel.

((YOU-SMELL-YOU-INTRUDER-IN-MY-NEST-OUT-OUT-GET-OUT-WINGLESS-MONSTER-SMELL-YOU-GET-OUT-OUT-OUT!))

Snotlout spun on his feet, going pale at the sight of the whispering death's teeth emerging from a cloud of dust down at the far end of the tunnel, but growing nearer with every passing second. Taking a fearful step back, his lips began to move in a soundless prayer to Thor. Before he could finish, however, he was tugged up by the back of his bearskin vest, and the world around him became a blur of brown and gray, and then of green.

"Oomph!" Snotlout grunted as Jack dropped him gracelessly on the forest floor.

"We should run." Jack was already bounding away from the hole, as were the other teens.

"No arguments here!" Snotlout cried as he scrambled to his feet and ran after them.

A geyser of soil and pebbles and torn tree roots shot up from the hole. Everyone turned and stared as Nest Killer emerged, howling ANGER and PRIDE and RAGE at them. Baby Tooth trembled on Jack's shoulder, half from fear but also from fury. How dare this beast threaten her Love!

Tuffnut smirked. Leaning towards Hiccup he teased, "I don't think Nest Killer likes you in his hole."

"Yeah, I got that," Hiccup spat, narrowing his eyes at the male twin.

"Can we get out of here?" Snotlout growled and then, after locking eyes with Nest Killer and in a much more pitiful tone, "Please?"

"No!" Hiccup insisted. "I know I can train this thing. Anybody got some dragon nip?"

All of them did. The others rushed to shove handfuls of the herb into Hiccup's open hands. Even Jack had a small wad that he kept in the bottom of his purse for Wodensfang and Toothless. Shooting them all exasperated looks, Hiccup started towards the hostile dragon, holding out the clump of herbs in his cupped hands.

"Don't be afraid. I'm a friend."

Nest Killer hissed, ((Caution-curiosity-anger-what-this-threat-trap-caution-bad-what-you-smell-wingless-invader-trap-trap-anger.))

Jack stepped forward, not wanting to interrupt before Hiccup had a chance to try, but wanting to be ready to intervene if things went south.

"You'll love this," Hiccup continued, offering the dragon nip to the whispering death. "All dragons love this."

The dragon sniffed at the herbs curiously, sightless eyes narrowing.

((Useless-weeds!)) Nest Killer snarled, flicking his tail at Hiccup and causing him to jump back.

The herbs went flying, scattering in the air and raining down on the Berkian dragons. The riders watched, horrified, as their dragons immediately succumbed to their effects; Hookfang slumped down on the ground, purring contentedly, Barf-and-Belch began whirling in circles as they snapped individual blades of grass from the air, Stormfly began rubbing her cheek on the ground where the dragon nip had fallen, and Meatlug simply rolled on her side, eyes going lipid and nostrils flaring as she basked in the scent.

Snotlout blanched. "Oh, great. Now we're defenseless!"

((Go-go-invaders-leave-me-shred-tear-kill-shredtearkill-want-Earth-Hoarder-kill-you-no-leave-kill-you!))

"Any ideas?" Hiccup cried. "I'm throwing it wide open to the group!"

"I've got an idea," Snotlout replied. "RUN!"

The teens immediately turned and fled into the thick forest, save one.

Nest Killer hissed and lunged forward, crying out as he did, ((Shred-tear-kill-go-run-run-ru-))

The musical, tinkling sound of Jack's magic cut off Nest Killer's cry. His body hit the ground with a loud thud as he dropped from the air, tail encased in a thick block of ice.

((TRAAAAAAP!)) Nest Killer roared as he hissed and struggled and writhed in his prison. ((You-dragon-look-like-wingless-trap-you-Icicle-bad-trap-trap-free-me-want-free-please-please!))

The whispering death's cries became ever more frantic and pitiful as he realized he could not break free of the ice himself. The weight grounded him, making it impossible to go airborne. His spines tore up chunks of earth as he flailed uselessly. Finally he went limp, panting as exhaustion seemed to take hold of him.

Hiccup froze, watching from the edge of the treeline as Jack took several slow, cautious steps towards Nest Killer. His heartbeat pounded in his ears and before he knew it he was running back towards the whispering death and Jack.

"No, not yet," Jack said, struggling to keep his voice firm.

Fearlings and Nightmares he had no trouble attacking, as they were less living creatures and more physical representations of evil and fear itself. Hostile vikings he was a little more hesitant about fighting, but not when they were running towards him with their weapons raised. Nest Killer had only been trying to run them off, and only because he thought they were invading his home. Pushing that aside, Jack held his guilt at bay by remembering why they had come searching for the whispering death in the first place.

"Yesterday you attacked a friend of mine; the dragon you call Earth Hoarder." Nest Killer hissed at the mention of the name, but did not interrupt. "I want you to leave him alone. If you promise me that, I'll let you go."

((And don't come back to Berk,)) Baby Tooth added, glaring at the dragon from her perch. ((You're not welcome here anymore.))

((You-Icicle-Earth-Hoarder-flock-you-me-understand-me-go-go-free-me-please-please...))

Jack nodded, and then prodded the ice with the end of his staff. The ice immediately became brittle, spiderweb cracks forming deep down beneath the surface. With a final twist Nest Killer wrenched himself free, sending splintered shards of ice flying everywhere. Immediately he took to the air, hovering above the ground before Jack. For a moment all Jack felt was relief; the situation had been resolved, Nest Killer was leaving, and hopefully Hiccup would go back to normal, but then Nest Killer roared HATRED and DIE!

The spirit did not move for several tense moments, not quite processing what was happening. The whispering death seemed to move in slow motion, body arching as he raised his tail with the intent of firing his quills at the white-haired spirit who had trapped him. Frozen in shock at the unexpected betrayal – it hadn’t occurred to to him for even a moment that a dragon would understand the concept of lying, as he thought of them as more or less innocent creatures – Jack could do nothing as the spine-covered tail came down on him. Thus he was completely caught off guard when he was tackled from behind. Together Jack, Baby Tooth, and Hiccup crashed to the ground, just underneath the spray of quills that Nest Killer fired at them.

((Die-die-trap-monster-hate-die!)) Nest Killer roared as he whirled around, prepared to launch another attack. He never got the chance.

((Nest-Killer-evil-bad-DIE!))

A black blur rocketed from the tree line. Jack scrambled up, pulling Hiccup after him as he put some distance between them and the two wrestling dragons.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called, but his partner ignored him.

The nightfury's claws dug into Nest Killer's hide as the whispering death took to the air, flailing in a desperate attempt to shake him off. Toothless's more powerful wings beat against the air and with a forceful kick he sent his opponent flying. Nest Killer skidded across the ground until he struck a tree, stunned but not down.

((Earth-Hoarder-you-here-threat-bad-bad-danger-me-kill-shred-tear-you-your-flock-your-wingless-your-Icicle-you!))

((You-die-die-I-fight-claw-kill-tear-you-hate-hate-fight-hunt-you-kill-you-die!)) Toothless snarled, clawing at the ground and baring his teeth. Behind him the rest of the Berkian dragons reared themselves, the dragon-nip induced haze beginning to ebb away. In unison they snarled, ((Us-flock-fight-protect-protect-love-fight-you-fight-together-us-fight-win!))

Nest Killer shrank back, an agitated hiss sounding in his throat as the dragons' cries assaulted him. He whipped around and plowed headfirst into the earth.

Jack cried out as Hiccup bolted to Toothless's side. He placed his hands on the nightfury's saddle, prepared to mount him, but Toothless jolted at the unexpected touch and rounded on him, teeth bared in a warning snarl.

"Hey bud, it's me!" Hiccup cried, holding up his hands defensively. Toothless's snarl immediately died, a whine taking its place. "Look, I know what's going on with you and Nest Killer." Toothless's slit pupils dilated. Emboldened, Hiccup reached for Toothless once more. "Let me help you..."

Toothless drew back, flaring his wings as he bounded out of his partner's reach.

"Toothless, come back!" Hiccup cried, immediately giving chase. "Toothless!"

Suddenly Toothless stopped, whirling to face his rider. A hiss rose from his throat and without warning he shot a plasma bolt at the earth between himself and Hiccup. Hiccup froze, bewildered and hurt as he stared first at the smoking crater separating himself from his best friend, and then at the proud dragon standing across from him.

((Sorry-sorry-Love-sorry-my-prey-my-hunt-not-yours-sorry,)) Toothless crooned. A moment later he had turned his back again and run off, leaving Hiccup far behind him.

"Hiccup..." Jack started to reach for the brunette, only to flinch and pull his hand away as he realized that the smaller boy would probably reject his touch anyway.

Tuffnut appeared behind them.

"Awkward."

Both Jack and Hiccup turned to glare at him.

The Riders and Jack had taken to the air again in search of Toothless and Nest Killer. As they flew, Jack explained to them what he’d heard of the dragons' conversations. Coupled with what Hiccup, Fishlegs and Snotlout had seen in the whispering death's tunnel, each of the teens drew the same conclusion.

"So Toothless has an archenemy," Snotlout mused, shooting Hiccup a look. "Just like you and me."

"Snotlout, you're not my archenemy," the exasperated teen called from Stormfly’s back.

"Well you're mine." Snotlout sent Hiccup what was meant to be a threatening look; the others just thought he looked buffoonish.

Ignoring him, Astrid turned to Hiccup. "So, what are you going to do now? If Toothless won't let you help him then..."

"I have to do something. It's not a fair fight. If Toothless is gonna win he has to fly, and he can't fly without me."

"But he doesn't want anyone's help," Jack shouted. "Whatever happened between those two, it's personal for Toothless."

"Right." Snotlout was surprisingly quick to agree. "This is between him and the other guy."

"But whether he wants it or not, he needs my help." Turning his eyes back to the land below, he continued, "We need to find him, and soon."

The wind whistled over Toothless's scales as he raced along the forest floor. His wounded leg ached, the bandage had come undone and flown off long ago, but he paid it no mind. Only one thing concerned him at the moment.

He came to a stop at a depression in the earth, the center of which was another of the whispering death's tunnels. Lowering his head, he breathed deeply of the stagnant air underground. He could smell Nest Killer, along with faint echoes of his hatred-fury-pain-rage-fear.

((Follow-anger-hunt-rage-hunt-find-anger-claw-kill-tear,)) he roared into the depths. He would not descend, though. That was his prey's territory, and he didn’t want to fight Nest Killer where the whispering death would be most in his element. Instead he bounded over the hole, following the distorted earth the whispering death had left in his wake.

The smell of salt and fish and sea grew stronger as he followed Nest Killer's trail. Ahead Toothless could see a break in the tree line where the forest ended, as did the land. If Nest Killer continued this way he would tunnel right out of the cliff face.

"There he is!" a familiar, but unwelcome voice called from the sky. Toothless didn’t have to turn to see what had happened. Though the wind blew his scent in the wrong direction, Toothless knew that Hiccup-beloved had found him again. He was aware when Hiccup and the rest of their flock set down behind him, the others remaining seated on their dragons while Hiccup alone dismounted, but resolutely he kept his senses to the hunt ahead. This was not a fight for his beloved.

Yet when Hiccup approached him, smelling of Love-worry-concern-hurt-sad-Love Toothless couldn’t stop himself from turning around, growl dying in his throat. Hiccup approached him cautiously, clawless paw outstretched.

((Guilt-sorry-Love-sorry-sorry,)) Toothless crooned as he pressed his head against his beloved's outstretched paw.

Instantly relief-happy-safe-Love-relief-Love washed over Hiccup. He smiled, placing both hands on the underside of Toothless's jaw and pulled him into a warm embrace as he breathed, "Hey bud. You had me so worried there for a while. You haven't been yourself lately." Hiccup pulled away and looked Toothless in the eye. "Good to see you're still you."

Jack smiled at the exchange. For the first time all day Hiccup looked genuinely happy. Baby Tooth hummed relief-happy-warm-good along with her larger-half.

The moment was ruined by a sudden, fierce tremor.

Nest Killer emerged from his tunnels yet again, hissing, ((Found-you-hunt-you-kill-you!))

Toothless's pupils narrowed into serpentine slits as he bared his fangs at the whispering death.

((Hatred-anger-kill-hate!)) he snarled, muscles bunching under his scales as he prepared to launch himself at the other.

Hiccup tensed, drawing himself closer to his partner. "You could just walk away from this, bud."

Nest Killer screamed ((HATRED-KILL-TEAR-SHRED-RIP-DIE-DIE-DIE!)) at them and Toothless knew that Hiccup was wrong; if he turned his back on his prey, Nest Killer would continue to pursue him until one of them had finished the other. Even if that were not the case, he had no desire to show mercy. Nest Killer was evil. He was destructive and remorseless and he cared nothing for helpless eggs.

((Stay-back-back-you-not-yours-my-prey-my-hunt-MINE!)) Toothless snarled. He flared his wings and hissed at Nest Killer, ((Hatred-fury-disgust-hate-hate-claw-tear-kill-you-you-prey-die-die-DIE!))

"Let's just go home!" Hiccup insisted, attempting once more to climb into Toothless's saddle, only to be shaken off.

Toothless leaped forward, able only to glide short distances. The rest of the teens ran to Hiccup's side as the nightfury took off once more.

"Oh, you were so close!" Fishlegs cried, fully aware he was stating the obvious. "I thought you had him."

Toothless screamed and launched a plasma blast at Nest Killer. The whispering death weaved fluidly around the attack, and when Toothless leaped off of the ground, attempting to take the fight into the sky but wavering and losing his mobility within moments, Nest Killer lashed his thorny tail down. The tail caught Toothless’s side, slicing into his hide and sending him crashing back into the ground.

He recovered quickly, rolling back onto his paws and screeching at his opponent. Once again Toothless tried to go airborne, but as he swerved his tail he felt his balance disappear and he plummeted back towards the ground. Taking advantage, Nest Killer released a geyser of red-orange flame at his grounded opponent. The heat didn’t bother Toothless so much, his fireproof scales protecting him from the worst of it, but the force of the blast knocked Toothless on his back. Nest Killer called out ((Mockery-power-pride-hah! Earth-Hoarder-weak-grounded-flightless-weak-prey!))

Finally Toothless managed to flip himself upright and screamed, ((Strong-fast-fierece-strong-me-no-prey-no-weak-hunt-hate-kill-claw-tear-you!))

Hiccup and the others watched all of this, horrified. Jack's staff glimmered and crackled with magic just barely held in check; he couldn’t run the risk of hitting Toothless. The hum and buzz of Baby Tooth's wings was a constant in his ear as she felt fury-fear-worry-anger-helplessness-protectiveness all at once.

"He need our help." Hiccup wasted no time in clasping Astrid's hand and pulling himself into Stormfly's saddle. They and the other dragon riders started forward, hissing and squawking and growling in unison. Before they could interfere, however, Toothless rounded on them.

((Back-back-you-thieves-you-my-prey-fight-hunt-MINE-you-no-steal-you!))

Instantly the Berkian dragons backed off, much to the bewilderment and frustration of their riders.

"Come on girl," Astrid urged as Stormfly pulled back from the two combatants and began pawing at the ground.

"Hookfang won't budge!"

"I think ours is broken!"

Only Fishlegs was able to figure out on his own what was happening.

"They know this isn't their fight, guys!" he called as Meatlug backed away.

Nest Killer lunged for Toothless. The nightfury nimbly ducked to the side, but was caught off guard by the spiraling jet of flame his opponent launched at him a moment later. The blast knocked Toothless out of the tree line. He skidded to a stop a few feet from the edge of the island. He snarled hatred and fury at Nest Killer as he once again plowed into the earth. The resulting tremor seemed to shake the whole island and to no small amount of horror Hiccup realized what the whispering death was planning.

Rock and dirt collapsed between Toothless and the rest of the island. Nest Killer bellowed TRIUMPH and HATE as he carved a deep crevice into the earth. With a wide canyon ahead of him and the ocean at his back Toothless was left completely isolated, and could only barely dodge when Nest Killer resurfaced and blasted a ring of flame at him. His back claws scrabbled over the edge of the pillar of rock. Pebbles and bits of earth plummeted down into the sea below.

"Toothless!" Hiccup cried, running as far forward as the crumbling earth would allow him to go. Toothless barely dodged another attack, and for a moment he looked up, locking eyes with Hiccup. "Buddy..."

Another jet of flame blocked Toothless from view.

((Hah-I-win-I-win-you-trapped-pitiful-prey-weak-weak-helpless-Earth-Hoarder-you!)) Nest Killer taunted as he circled the air overhead.

"He's going to knock him into the canyon!" Hiccup cried.

Jack stared, horrified. Tightening his grip on his staff, he started forward. Maybe if he got between them he could-

"Stop!" Suddenly a calloused hand grabbed his, jerking him back. Whirling, he found Hiccup staring at him, his eyes resolute and his grip near-bruising. "You'll get yourself killed."

"I'm immortal," Jack countered, tugging his hand away, but he didn’t follow through with his plan to throw himself between the two feuding dragons. What could he do, what could he…?

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack barely registered Hiccup taking a step towards the ledge.

Toothless's head fins perked. He turned to his rider as he felt his determination-fear-Love-resolve. Keeping his eyes locked on his rider, he watched as Hiccup took another step towards the ledge, and then another.

Holding his arms out, Hiccup fell forward, throwing himself into the chasm below. Jack turned, eyes going wide as he finally realized what Hiccup was doing.

"Hiccup!" someone, he wasn’t sure who, cried.

((Love!))

Toothless hardly noticed when Nest Killer launched another spiral of flame at him; he threw himself from the pillar, wings beating furiously as he propelled himself towards his partner. Loose earth and soil left behind by Nest Killer whirled around them with every stroke.

Fear gripped Jack's heart in a painful hold as he jumped over the edge of the cliff, staring down at the cloud of dust that had swallowed Hiccup and Toothless. Then he heard a roar. Relief washed over him and a silly grin split his face.

((Brave-brave-fierce-us-together-us)) echoed from the cloud and a black blur shot up into the air.

"Yes!" Astrid cheered, pumping her fist into the air at the sight of Hiccup and Toothless flying together from the crevice below.

Hiccup grinned, placing his palm on Toothless's head.

"You save me, I save you." His prosthetic shifted in the stirrup and together the nightfury-rider pair turned on Nest Killer. "That's the way it is."

The air around them screamed as they raced towards Nest Killer. The whispering death roared, ((Hate-hate-kill-rip-tear-shred-you-BOTH-you!)) and fired a ring of flame at them. They weaved around the attack, barely feeling the heat, and when several whistling quills flew through the air towards them Hiccup shifted Toothless's tail fin and they danced out of the way of those as well.

Hiccup and Toothless shot straight up into the sky. Opening his wings, Toothless halted their ascent and whirled around, firing a plasma bolt at Nest Killer. Nest Killer roared HATRED and FEAR and INDIGENCE as he dodged the attack. For the first time in a week, the clouds overhead parted, allowing pale sunlight to warm Toothless's scales and the back of Hiccup's neck.

A pained screech erupted from Nest Killer's throat. Toothless and Hiccup shot towards him, but already he was retreating underground, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in his wake. Eyeing the area for some sign of the whispering death, Hiccup wondered what had caused him to suddenly retreat like that. Then it hit him.

"The sunlight Hiccup!" Fishlegs cried as he and Toothless hovered overhead. "That's his weakness!"

Hiccup smiled and turned to Toothless. "Okay, bud. Let's keep him above ground."

Toothless huffed in agreement. Nest Killer may have ruled the underground, but together he and Hiccup-beloved ruled the sky. If Nest Killer wanted to threaten them, he would have to do it where they had the advantage.

The night-fury pair rocketed through the forest. A hiss rose in the back of Toothless's throat and using all but the very last of his shots he fired off several plasma blasts into the gaping holes left behind by the whispering death. Pillars of violet-white light shot up from the tunnels as they collapsed, sinking mounds of earth and pine trees as they did.

((Come-out-come-out-coward-Nest-Killer-prey-fight-us-we-together-Hiccup-Toothless-fastest-strongest-best-hunt-hunt-fight-defeat-you!))

"This. Is. Amazing." Ruffnut breathed as she watched the forest light up. Her brother patted Belch on the back of his neck.

"We've got to find you an arch-nemesis."

Finally Nest Killer emerged from his lair, dazed by both the intense light and the concussive blasts. ((Hate-hate-kill-you-kill-Earth-Hoarder-wingless-grind-tear-shred-your-bones!))

He opened his maw to release another jet of flame, but Toothless was too fast. Rocketing forward, he plowed into Nest Killer, slamming him into the ground where he kept him pinned. A low hiss rose in Toothless's throat as he prepared to fire off his last shot.

"Toothless, no!" Hiccup cried, feeling Love-fear-worry-tired.

Toothless swallowed the shot, locking eyes with his rider and then with Nest Killer.

((I-find-you-find-you-both-hunt-hunt-track-shred-tear-kill-you!)) Nest Killer hissed. Toothless bared his fangs. This dragon was evil. Icicle had already shown him mercy and Nest Killer had betrayed him. He deserved death.

((DDDOOOOONNN'TTT-CCOOOOOOOOOMMMEE-BBBAAAAAAAAAAACCKKKKK!))

Then he pulled back, settling on the ground next to his defeated opponent. Immediately Nest Killer was up, tail whipping frantically behind him as he fled back under ground. Feeling the vibrations in his paws, Toothless knew that Nest Killer had left for good this time. He didn’t deserve mercy, but Hiccup-beloved was kindhearted and didn’t like to kill.

The sound of beating wings reached his fins. Turning away from the sunken trail left behind by his opponent, Toothless found that his cousins had reunited with their riders, and were now settling on the torn earth around him and Hiccup.

"Oh man!" Snotlout cried as he and Hookfang set down. "Toothless could have finished him off!"

"Well, I guess all dragon grudges aren't to the death," Hiccup replied with a relieved sigh.

Fishlegs smiled.

I guess I'll have to change that in the book." And with that, he took off, Meatlug's wings vanishing into a blur. The other riders followed suit, taking to the air beside him. Only Hiccup and Toothless hung back... and Jack.

"Hey."

Hiccup flinched at the sound of Jack's voice. For a moment he avoided the other's eyes, but then he realized that would be suspicious so he forced himself to look at Jack. There was nothing in the ice elf's expression to indicate he had noticed anything weird; for a moment Hiccup had been fearful that he’d somehow given himself away when he grabbed Jack's hand. He hadn’t been thinking at the time, his body simply moving on its own.

There was no hatred or disgust or fear in Jack’s expression, however. He looked... concerned, and suddenly a second pool of guilt settled right beside the first in the pit of Hiccup's stomach.

"Are... are you going to be all right?"

"Y-yeah of course!" Hiccup replied. Scratching the back of Toothless's neck, he continued, "Nest Killer's gone for good this time, I'm sure of it."

"Okay..." Jack looked... hurt. Disappointed. Hiccup knew the feeling. "You know you can trust me, right? If anything's bothering you..."

"I know," Hiccup replied. 'You're the one who can't trust me.'

"Okay."

Silence settled between them, and Hiccup thought that was it. Suddenly Jack started bouncing on the balls of his feet, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Hey, I’ll race you back to the Academy?”

His expression was playful, but Hiccup could see a twinge of fear behind those eyes. He realized guiltily that Jack was afraid he’d say no. Despite the way his stomach was twisting itself into knots, Hiccup returned his smile and nodded.

“Last one there’s a hobblegrunt!” he teased before snapping Toothless’s artificial tail fluke open and taking off. He heard Jack give a shout behind him and then the three of them were in the air.

It was another sleepless night for Hiccup. Toothless snored quietly nearby on his slate, chest rising and falling with every slow, even breath. His injuries had been dressed the moment they returned to the village, and the next day they would be plugging up the holes left by the whispering death. Hiccup's mind was elsewhere. Staring up at the ceiling, Hiccup continued lacing and unlacing his fingers together, remembering the feel of Jack's cool skin against his own. He wished he could want it without feeling guilty.

Racing back to the academy together had been… fun. Good. The closest to normal he’d felt all day. Hiccup wished their relationship could have just stayed like that. The only bright side was that Jack didn’t seem to have the slightest clue what was bothering Hiccup, just that something was bothering him. Maybe… Maybe things didn’t have to change. Jack had been alone for so long, Hiccup wasn’t about to abandon him now, and he could suppress these inexplicably cruel thoughts his brain had conjured towards the winter spirit.

Hiccup sighed, turning over in his bed. In the privacy of his own mind, he promised himself he would kill whatever part of him wanted to hurt Jack.

Chapter Text

"Toothless, battle ready."

As Hiccup clenched his hand into a fist and pulled in towards his chest, his nightfury companion immediately jumped from his sitting position. Toothless flared his wings, pupils narrowing into slits and a ferocious snarl slipping past his bared teeth.

The current training exercise being performed by the Riders of Berk had been inspired by an impromptu rescue of the twins performed by Fishlegs and Meatlug. Hiccup had been impressed when Fishlegs had revealed his hand-signals. So impressed, in fact, that he’d immediately directed the others back to the academy where he insisted they each begin working on their own unique hand signals to communicate with their dragons.

Hiccup smiled, then pointed his finger down at the ground.

"Toothless, plasma blast."

The moment the command had been said, Hiccup threw his wooden shield – the one currently hanging off of his arm for the sole purpose of this training exercise – into the air and Toothless obeyed, launching a ball of white-hot flame. The shield burst apart in a shower of embers and scorched wood which rained down on the ground of the Dragon Training Academy.

"Good job, bud." Hiccup grinned, then traced his lips with his forefinger. "Smile."

Toothless tilted his head to the side curiously, then his lips twitched and parted in a toothless smile.

"Nice job guys." Jack grinned as he approached the pair, Baby Tooth on one shoulder and Wodensfang on the other. He placed a hand atop Toothless's broad head and gave him a pat. "Especially you, Toothless."

Hiccup nodded, heart rate accelerating and palms going sweaty. Even though it had been a few weeks since he’d promised himself that he wouldn’t act on his dark thoughts, he still had a hard time acting normal around Jack. He swallowed thickly, forcing himself to look at Toothless and not Jack as he muttered his thanks.

Nearby, Astrid had become momentarily distracted from her own training. She watched Hiccup and Jack curiously. After the incident with the whispering death Hiccup had seemed to go back to normal, yet Astrid often got the impression that he was putting up walls again, just as he had before defeating the Red Death; he often retreated alone, save for Toothless, to his hut or the woods, he seemed to check his speech a lot, cutting himself off mid-sentence as though fearful of his own voice, and he’d jerked away from Jack's friendly touches enough times that the white-haired teen rarely even tried anymore.

The fact that most of his sudden insecurities seemed to revolve around Jack was not lost on Astrid, yet she had heard nothing of a fight between them and Jack seemed just as confused as she was. The whole thing irritated her to no end. Whatever Hiccup was going through, it was clearly hurting him and he was hurting Jack in turn. Both of them were her friends; she wanted to help, but diplomacy and tact were not her forte and all of her attempts to pry the answer from Hiccup directly had yielded no answers.

Stormfly squawked, drawing her attention. "Whoops. Sorry girl."

Turning her focus back to the task at hand, Astrid held both of her hands palms-out and thrust them away from her chest. "Stormfly, spine shot."

Reacting to the verbal and visual cue, Stormfly flicked her tail forward, sending a spray of quills into the floor of the training ring. One stray quill sliced through the side of Astrid's boot, pinning her to the spot by the leather. The viking girl smiled as she bent and pulled the quill free.

"Well, that's-” Grunt. “-better than last time."

Snotlout's laughter rang obnoxiously in the air. Shooting him a glare, Astrid saw him gesture with both fists towards a wooden training target. "Hookfang, annihilate!"

Maybe she imagined it, but Astrid could have sworn Hookfang smirked.

Rather than blasting the target, Hookfang fired a jet of flame at the ground beneath his partner's feet. Reacting on instinct, Snotlout leaped out of the way and plowed right into the target.

"Bull's-eye," Tuffnut teased while his sister crossed his arms and smirked.

"Meatlug, hug!" Fishlegs cried, wrapping his arms around himself. Instantly the gronkle's wings disappeared into a blur and her tongue lolled out of her mouth as she flew at her rider, slamming into him and sending them both sprawling to the ground. Fishlegs laughed as she started covering his face with big, sloppy kisses.

"Remind me never to ask Meatlug for a hug," Jack joked as he watched the pair. Hiccup shrugged.

"Actually, that could be useful," he countered. Turning to the twins and their zippleback, he shouted, "Ruff, Tuff, your turn."

In unison, the twins turned to Barf-and-Belch. Already Hiccup knew this was going to end badly, if not because of the fact that Ruff and Tuff were, well, Ruff and Tuff, then because the pair had instantly pointed in two different directions.

"Barf/Belch," the two of them spoke in unison. "Come/go!"

Each head attempted to obey his corresponding rider, pulling in two different directions. Barf-and-Belch's necks stretched while he struggled to figure out how to direct his feet, only to slump to the ground when his heads snapped back and collided with one another.

The twins growled at one another while Barf-and-Belch recovered.

"Belch/Barf," they cried, evidently not learning their lesson from the first time. Tuffnut pointed at his feet while Ruffnut pointed into the air. "Ground/sky!"

Only one head stretched skyward and only one wing flapped. Barf-and-Belch leaped a few feet off of the ground, but half of his body did not respond. Instantly he went into a spiral before collapsing in a heap on the stone.

Tuffnut grinned. "Ha ha, I win!"

His sister rounded on him furiously. "What do you think you're doing to my dragon!?"

"Your dragon?" Tuffnut snapped. "Puh-lease. You've been breathing in Barf's gas again."

"Yeah, so?" Ruffnut growled, getting in her brother's face.

"Guys, guys!" Hiccup cried, drawing their attention. "Barf-and-Belch is one dragon. You have to use one signal at a time."

"Good idea," Ruffnut said with a smirk as her brother began to stalk off. Spreading her fingers outwards, she gestured towards his back. "Barf, attack Tuffnut."

Instantly the head she rode arched towards Tuffnut. Barf gave his other head’s rider a fierce headbut, sending Tuffnut flying into Snotlout who had yet to recover from his own training accident.

"How was that?" Ruffnut laughed.

Stepping forward, Fishlegs started, "Um, I don't think it's what Hiccup-"

"Belch, eat Ruffnut," Tuffnut interrupted, pinching his fingers together in imitation of a mouth closing.

Instantly the head he rode leaned down and snapped up Ruffnut's head between his jaws, holding her aloft by her shoulders

"Uh, ow!"

Jack and Baby Tooth winced at the sight.

"Tuff, come on," Hiccup scolded, earning an eye roll from the male twin.

"Whatever," Tuffnut groaned. He opened his fingers. "Belch, drop Ruffnut."

Barf-and-Belch obeyed, dropping his female rider to the ground. Ruffnut landed on her feet and immediately shuddered, wiping the zippleback's drool from the front of her tunic and face.

"Ugh. I can't work like this," she hissed.

Pulling himself to his feet, Tuffnut growled, "Ugh. It's completely unprofessional."

Glaring daggers into her brother's skull, Ruffnut snapped, "I'm taking my dragon and going home."

Tuffnut rounded on her, shooting her a glare of his own. "You touch that dragon, and I'll-"

"You'll what?"

"I..." he hesitated, looking lost. "I don't know. Don't rush me. Just... uh... uh... Tell you tomorrow!"

Ruffnut rolled her eyes and then turned her back on her brother. Running to Barf-and-Belch, she took hold of Barf's jaw and began pulling. Following her example, Tuffnut grabbed a hold of Belch and started pulling him in a different direction by his lower lip.

((Sad-sad-confused-what?-Love-you-both-you-why-why-why?))

"Guys come on, leave the dragon out of this," Hiccup started. He took a step towards the twins, heedless of the mischievous look Jack had on his face. "It's over."

"Oh, it's over," Ruffnut agreed.

"Yeah, it's so over, it's und-"

Tuffnut was cut off mid-sentence as a blue snowball exploded across his face. Belch blinked curiously as Tuffnut let go of the dragon in favor of wiping snow from his eyes and blinking away the blue sparks that were dancing across his vision. His sister burst out laughing, clutching her stomach as she pointed at her brother. A second snowball plowed into her face and took her off of her feet.

The other teens stared in shock while Astrid shot Jack a look and said, "Was that really necessary?"

Jack smirked, offering her a wink. "Wait for it."

Ruffnut sat upright, shaking her head to clear her vision. For a moment she thought she could see blue lights. When she looked up she saw her brother staring at her with a stupefied expression, clumps of snow and droplets of water still clinging to her hair and brows. It was exactly how she imagined she looked at that moment. Suddenly her lips quirked upward in a slight smile. She tried to fight it, tried to remember that she was supposed to be angry at Tuffnut, but as she clapped her hand over her mouth to stop the giggles threatening to burst forth she realized she wasn’t so angry anymore.

"You look like such an idiot!" she howled as she burst out laughing, Tuffnut following her example.

"You're one to talk!" he cried through peals of laughter.

"Whaaaat the heck is going on?" Fishlegs asked, eyes flicking back and forth between Jack and the twins.

"Magic snowballs," Jack replied. "Kinda hard to stay mad when you're too busy having fun."

"It's weird," Snotlout commented, earning a sharp glare from Baby Tooth.

((So's your name,)) she tweeted.

"Well, now that that crisis has been averted," Hiccup said, clapping his hands together and turning to the rest of the teens, "We should probably get back to training."

"Does that mean it's my turn?" Jack grinned, exchanging a glance with Wodensfang. He snatched his hand forward, as though he were plucking a feather from the air. "Fetch."

Immediately Wodensfang launched himself from Jack's shoulder. Snotlout cried out and the twins' howling laughter escalated as the blue terror's claws closed around the horns of his helmet and in one clean stroke he swiped the headpiece, chittering happily as he took to the air overhead.

"Hey, give that back!" Snotlout snarled as he chased after Wodensfang. He leaped into the air, making a grab for the tiny dragon and coming up short.

With a mischievous grin, Jack traced a figure eight in the air. "Wodensfang, dodge."

Wodensfang swooped down low, just within Snotlout's reach. Again the burly teen made a grab for him, but Wodensfang nimbly spun and weaved around his grabbing hands. The twins were in tears as Snotlout spun in circles, trying and failing to snatch his helmet back from the playful dragon.

"You suck so much!"

"All right, all right, that's enough," Astrid scolded, elbowing Jack. She did not try to hide the amused smile on her face. "Give it back."

"Fine." Jack held up one hand in a fist, and then uncurled his fingers. "Wodensfang, drop it."

Wodensfang halted in the air directly over Snotlout. His little claws unlatched and the helmet fell from his grip and struck Snotlout square in the head.

"Ow!"

Training more or less devolved into play time after that, to both Hiccup's exasperation and relief. The twins, once they had mastered the art of taking turns, took malevolent delight in using hand signals to instruct Barf-and-Belch to mess with Snotlout without alerting him. Feeling left out, Hookfang had joined the twin-headed dragon in tormenting his rider. Hiccup tried to get the dragons and their riders back under control, but to no avail; when Toothless had flashed him his signature puppy-dog eyes and wagged his tail Hiccup knew he’d lost the battle.

"This is your fault," he deadpanned as he exited the arena on Toothless's back, not looking at Jack as he bounced on balls of his feet beside the pair.

"I know. Race you round the island!"

Hiccup was given no opportunity to refuse – not that he’d planned to – before Jack launched himself into the sky and, with a whooping laugh, allowed the Wind to carry him away. Hiccup and Toothless wasted no time in taking off after him.

Flying was good. Flying was safe and fun. It was also about the only thing that was still normal between them; Hiccup never had to come near Jack or touch him, yet they were still undeniably connected in this. Up above the clouds, feeling Toothless's muscles shift beneath him as they spun in a series of acrobatic maneuvers together with the Winter spirit, Hiccup could pretend that nothing had changed.

By the time dusk had fallen it seemed as though everything had gone back to normal. The twins continued to elbow and jostle one another playfully, reminding Jack a bit of Caleb and Claude. The Riders agreed to meet in the Great Hall later on for dinner and to discuss training. While the others made their way to the top of the winding trail – their dragons and Wodensfang scattering to lounge on the perches or to fish for themselves – Hiccup, with Jack and Toothless ever at his side, returned to his hut to stow away the Book of Dragons before meeting up with the others.

"You can just wait out here a minute," Hiccup said with a shrug. He hoped it wasn’t obvious that he was trying to avoid being alone in his room with the sprite. "I won't be long."

Jack nodded. "You better not; it's freezing out here!"

It was a joke. Hiccup shook his head and chuckled as he slipped indoors, leaving Toothless outside with Jack. Baby Tooth shifted in his purse, poking her head out but not emerging completely.

((Happy-love-good-Small-Tooth-see-you-now-good-good,)) Toothless purred as he sniffed at the purse.

((Shh! Toothless, stop! Someone's gonna see!)) Baby Tooth scolded as she swatted at his nose with her tiny hands, though in actuality she did not mind so much. Her swatting turned into a light pat without any need for intervention.

"There's hardly anyone out here anyway," Jack said as he sat down on the steps outside of Hiccup's hut. "It's probably safe enough."

Somewhat reluctantly, Baby Tooth climbed from the purse, settling on Jack's thigh. She still didn’t dare take flight, lest the sound of her wings draw unwanted attention.

((Good-yes-you-out-out-free-safe,)) Toothless crooned once she was settled. He pressed his nose to her body, nearly knocking her over.

((Well not for long if you keep that up!)) she snapped, though Jack felt no irritation from her.

"Oh come on, you know you love 'im," Jack teased as he placed a hand atop the nightfury's broad had and offered him a light scratch. Halfheartedly, Baby Tooth gave her larger-half a smack.

The mood was a good one. Flying with Hiccup and Toothless had put the two immortals in high spirits. Though Jack still had no clue what had come over Hiccup of late, whatever it was seemed to simply evaporate once the four of them were in the sky. Suddenly a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, Toothless, do you know what's going on with Hic?" he asked, drawing a terse look from the dragon. "I mean, he's been getting better lately, but, I dunno, it seems like something's been bothering him."

Toothless's head-fins lay flat as he stared at the spirit. He knew, to a degree, what had was bothering his other half. His own language used scents and posture as much as it used sound and he could smell the hormones pumping through Hiccup’s veins whenever Icicle was around, as well as Hiccup’s shame-guilt-self-loathing. It was strange to him, as it was uncommon for dragons to bond to their own gender. Even stranger, though, was Hiccup's reaction. As far as Toothless was concerned, strange or not, Hiccup should have been trying to court Icicle, but it seemed to him that his partner was caught in some weird dance between keeping Icicle close and pushing him away.

((Hiccup-beloved-sad-sad-scared-confused-sorry-don't-know-sorry-sorry,)) Toothless whined, tilting his head to the side. Even though he didn’t agree with Hiccup's course of action, he wasn’t going to go behind his back and undermine it.

Smiling weakly, Jack gave Toothless a light scratch underneath his jaw. "It's okay."

The clatter of wood as Hiccup's front door swung open had Baby Tooth retreating back into Jack's purse, though it was only Hiccup himself stepping outside, Book of Dragons no longer tucked under his arm. The brunette groaned as he descended down the steps.

"So, guess what we get to do tomorrow?"

Jack clucked his tongue as he stood. "I'm guessing something along the lines of 'training' and 'dragons.'" Hiccup shook his head.

"Close." The two started towards the Great Hall, Hiccup carefully but not so discretely ensuring that Toothless remained between them the entire time. "We're going to be hiding all of the dragons."

Jack and Toothless both stared at Hiccup for an awkward moment, exchanged glances, and then turned back to Hiccup. "Toothless gets the distinct impression you're embarrassed of him."

Toothless gave a mock whine as though to affirm Jack's statement.

"Hey, I don't want to either," Hiccup replied, throwing up his hands defensively. "It's my dad's idea. Tomorrow's the annual signing of the peace treaty with the Berserker Tribe and my dad thinks that Chief Osvald will see the dragons as a threat."

Jack perked a brow. "Osvald?"

"The Agreeable," Hiccup deadpanned, not noticing as Toothless's pace slowed the tiniest bit.

"...The chief of the Berserker Tribe is called Osvald the Agreeable?"

"Yep."

"...Is that name supposed to be ironic or...?"

"Yeah, Gobber says they should change their name. You know they haven't been to war in fifty years?"

"I actually didn't know that, but thanks for telling me." They were climbing the steps of the Great Hall now, Toothless padding quietly behind them. "We're not going to keep the dragons hidden the whole time, right? I mean, Stoick'll break the news gently and then..."

"I'm hoping that's what he's planning. Dad told me he'd already written to some of our other allied tribes and told them, but I guess the Berserkers didn't get the memo."

"In all fairness, how exactly do you tell someone something like that? 'Dear Berserker Tribe: We have pet flying, fire-breathing reptiles.' No offense, Toothless. 'Please don't kill us, signed Hooligan Tribe.'"

"Well, it's a start," Hiccup replied with a shrug. "You forgot: 'P.S. We've also trained the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. His name is Toothless because he's toothless. Don't worry, he's house-trained.'"

Jack burst out laughing and Hiccup felt his heart swell. Gods, he had missed this. Up close, illuminated by the bright light of the nearly full moon, Jack looked so happy and...

Wait...

Hiccup did a double take, realizing only now that he and Jack were standing right next to one another. Throwing a nervous glance over his shoulder, he found Toothless standing a few feet behind them, a cheeky expression on his face.

'Thank you, you useless reptile...' Hiccup bit his cheek and tried to force his ripening blush down.

"Hey, how do you think your dad's planning to explain the dragon perches?" Jack asked as he pushed open the doors to the Great Hall. The three of them slipped inside, Hiccup thankful for the dim lighting. Hopefully the color of his cheeks would be less noticeable.

"Uh... giant clothes lines?"

The rest of the teens were already seated at a table at the far end of the hall, far away from the adults who were absorbed in their own conversations. Hjordis, Fridenot, and Wulfric were present as well, all clustered around Astrid who was speaking animatedly, moving her arms in motions that Hiccup recognized from their swordsmanship training.

"And once you've got the tip of your blade close to their hilt you want to push down-"

"Hey Jack!" Fridenot interrupted, much to Astrid's irritation, though he seemed to not notice. "Hi Hiccup."

"Hey, kiddos," Jack replied first. "Astrid, are you raising an evil army of miniature warriors?"

"Hjordis let it slip that I was giving her sword-fighting lessons," Astrid replied with a shrug as Jack took a seat across from her. Underneath the table Baby Tooth crawled out of his purse, and into the waiting palm of his hand. Discretely he raised her to the table, allowing the fairy to sit with them without being noticed by any of the adults in the building. "And, well, long story short, I'm now teaching a class of my own."

Hiccup was thankful to find that the only empty space was at the opposite end of the bench from Jack. He started for it, only to have Toothless cut him off.

"Toothless, wha-?"

Rather than answering, Toothless turned towards the table. On one side Astrid sat, along with the three children and Fishlegs. On the other sat Jack, Snotlout, and the twins (who were once again arguing over something or other). Before anyone could say anything, Toothless caught the back of Snotlout's bearskin vest between his teeth and yanked the burly teen from his seat.

"Whoa, hey!" Snotlout cried as he landed in a crumpled heap on the ground. "Can you keep your stupid dragon under control!?"

"S-sorry, I don't know what's gotten in to him," Hiccup said. "Toothless, what are you-?"

Toothless ignored him in favor of grabbing Snotlout by his pant leg. He dragged the protesting viking towards the end of the bench, and the unoccupied seat Hiccup had originally planned to take. Leaving Snotlout grumbling angrily on the floor, Toothless bounded over to Hiccup, purring happily.

Everyone stared at the nightfury, bewildered.

"I, uh, g-guess I'm sitting here then," Hiccup mumbled, taking the seat somewhat reluctantly. Snotlout grumbled, but took the position he had been forced into. His face lit up as he realized he was now free to the meat on the plate the others had grabbed for Hiccup.

"Anyway, speaking of classes," Astrid said, drawing the conversation back on track, "Hiccup, any plans for dragon training tomorrow?" Hiccup prodded Snotlout's leftover boiled turnips with his knife.

"Actually, no. The Berserker tribe is coming tomorrow, and Dad's making us hide all of the dragons."

Everyone at the table stiffened, save for Snotlout and the two smallest children, who did not remember the last treaty signing very clearly.

"Is Dagur coming?" Snotlout asked, perking up instantly. "He's so cool."

"Cool?" Hiccup parroted, shooting his cousin an incredulous look. "Last time he was here he used me as a knife throwing target."

Jack blinked, looking between the two of them. "Who's Dagur?"

"He's Osvald the Agreeable's son," Hjordis answered. "He's a total brat, and a monster."

"That guy should be locked up in a cage," Astrid huffed in agreement.

"That's what he did to me!" Fishlegs cried. "He wouldn't let me eat for three days!"

Snotlout burst out laughing. "Then he force-fed you rotten cod heads!"

Fishlegs paled, and then pushed his plate away in disgust.

"Thanks. I almost erased that from my memory."

"I like cod heads," Tuffnut chimed in, voice more nasally than usual. The twins had sort of paused their argument, though Ruffnut still had a firm hold of her brother's nose and hair, while Tuffnut had his sister by her ear and one of her braids.

Jack frowned, a slight shudder working its way down his spine. Baby Tooth looked up at him, feeling concern and comfort at him.

"This Dagur guy sounds like a spirit I’ve run into a few times before,” he commented, placing his fork down. He glanced at the slab of meat on the untouched plate in front of him, and then at the rejected vegetables Hiccup was currently pushing around his own plate. "You wanna trade?"

"Huh?" Hiccup looked between his plate and Jack's, then shrugged. "Sure." They swapped dishes around on the table.

"You don't talk about other spirits a lot," Astrid commented. "He wasn't a friend of yours, was he?"

"No, he was evil. The first time we met he said something about my face pi- uh, making him angry and tried to kill me." Baby Tooth squeaked in horror; this was the first she had ever heard of this.

"Ha! I think I like this guy!" Snotlout laughed, earning identical glares from Astrid and Baby Tooth.

Behind his back, Hiccup pantomimed snatching a feather from the air. While Snotlout was busy laughing Toothless crept up behind him and then snapped up his helmet between his jaws. Snotlout shouted and made a grab for the helmet, but Hiccup traced a figure eight with his forefinger and Toothless took off running. Hiccup's hand was back in his lap before Snotlout noticed.

"Give that back!" the dark-haired viking roared as he proceeded to chase Toothless across the Great Hall. Their antics drew a few stares, but most of the village knew Snotlout's reputation and proceeded to soundly ignore him, so long as he didn’t bump into him or their tables. "Stupid dragon! That's not a toy!"

"Sorry Snotlout!" Hiccup called while the rest of the group stifled their snickers. "I don't know what's wrong with him today!"

"Would you knock it off!?"

Hiccup's attention was turned to the siblings sitting next to him at the cry. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were at it again, both fighting to shove the other off of the bench.

"Ah great, I thought they were done with this," Hiccup sighed. Fishlegs raised an eyebrow.

"Um, do you guys always have to fight?"

"Well, tell her that it's my turn to use the plate!" Tuffnut growled. Ruffnut kicked him under the table.

"No, tell her that it's my turn!" she snapped.

"Hey!"

The rest of the table blinked, staring at the single plate shared between the two. Wulfric spoke up first. "Why don't you guys just get another plate?"

The twins froze, mid-movement. Each of them had the other's collar balled in their fists and their free hands cocked, poised to throw a punch. Ruff and Tuff stared blankly at Wulfric for a few seconds, and then at each other. Then they scrambled up from the table, running off to the serving line.

"Diiiid that really need to be said?" Hjordis asked, not taking her eyes off of the retreating pair. Astrid pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Apparently."

Baby Tooth shook her head. ((Imbeciles.))

Hiccup awoke the next morning to the sound of something pounding on his roof, which was a rather ordinary occurrence to him. Blearily he peeled open his sleep-fogged eyes, finding Toothless's slate unoccupied. For a moment he contemplated pulling the blanket over his head and going back to sleep. Then he remembered what day it was.

"All right, all right. I'm up, I'm up," he groaned as he sat upright, feeling a few soft 'pops' in his back as he yawned and stretched his arms overhead.

He went through the motions automatically as he donned his prosthetic, grabbed Toothless's flying gear out from under his bed, and made his way downstairs. His father, as per usual, was nowhere to be seen. What was not usual was the cobalt thunderdrum still sitting outside when Hiccup emerged from the hut, no saddle and no reigns.

"Oh, Thornado, what're you still doing here?" Hiccup asked, not expecting a response.

"Your dad left him for us," Jack's voice rang out. Head whipping around, Hiccup caught no sign of the Winter sprite. "Up here."

Stepping down from his porch, Hiccup cast his gaze skyward and blanched at the sight of Jack sitting casually on his roof next to Toothless. Wodensfang was wrapped around his shoulders like a scarf and Baby Tooth was floating freely in the air next to him.

"Jack, what are you doing up there!?"

"Sitting. Duh."

"Ha ha, you know that's not what I meant." Glancing around, Hiccup saw no one in the immediate area. He could hear the clang of steel from the smithy and see several adults already at work down on the pier, but nobody close enough to Hiccup's hut to really pay them much mind. "What if somebody sees you?"

"I can climb, Hic. On my own, without agic-may."

Hiccup had no idea what 'agic-may' was, but before he could think to ask, Jack decided to prove his point by standing abruptly and then hopping down from the roof. Hiccup flinched back, nearly dropping Toothless's riding gear, as the spirit landed in front of him, leaning down a few inches so their faces were close.

"So, your dad says we don't have to hide the dragons for a few more hours," Jack said, oblivious to the lanky viking's embarrassment. "Wanna go flying for a bit?"

'Keep it together Hic, don't say anything stupid or weird, and for the love of Thor, stop blushing!'

"Sure." Hiccup nodded. Out of his peripheral he caught sight of Toothless slinking down from the roof. "I was getting ready to go do that anyway."

"Perfect!" the spirit chimed, earning an affirmative chirp from Wodensfang, and suddenly Hiccup was hit by a wave of dread. He and Jack hadn’t flown together on Toothless in a few weeks; what if Jack noticed... something? As it turned out, Hiccup needn’t have worried. Immediately Jack turned to Thornado, kneeling before the cobalt dragon and placing a friendly hand on his muzzle. "Whaddya say, Thornado? You're always working. Up for having a bit of fun with us?"

((Fun-yes-Icicle-happy-happy-good,)) the large dragon purred as he allowed Jack to mount him. It was a bit strange to see Jack on the thunderdrum's back; the dragon was so large and he so small, on top of which Jack had nothing to help him hold on with. He simply stood on the dragon’s back, nonexistent weight not serving as the slightest hindrance for the thunderdrum.

"Let's have a race! Last person around the island is a rotten cod head, threetwoonego!" Jack taunted as he and Thornado took off abruptly, Wodensfang chirping along with him.

"Hey, no fair!" Hiccup cried as he and Toothless took off after them. Maybe today would not be so terrible after all.

Any other person would have been torn from the thunderdrum's back at the speeds they were going, but the Wind did no such thing to Jack. Though Thornado was not capable of the same acrobatic stunts and complex maneuvers as Toothless, he was still a very powerful and very fast dragon. Jack laughed in elation as he stood atop the thunderdrum's flattened body and they skimmed the ocean surface, kicking up walls of foamy white spray in their wake. The spirit took delight in freezing the water as it rose, creating a cloud of snow and mist behind them.

Overhead Toothless and Hiccup flanked them, swooping and diving and occasionally cutting the ocean surface or the snow-cloud with the tips of the nightfury's wings before weaving around and taking to the air once more. At one point when they came low enough Toothless spun and began flying upside down, directly over Jack's head. Hiccup had a more difficult time controlling the artificial tail fluke with half of his weight hanging by his prosthetic, but even so he wasn’t worried. Toothless crooned in pleasure when Jack reached up and stroked his scales and then he righted himself once more and shot ahead.

Poor Wodensfang squawked in terror as he held on to Jack's tunic for dear life, needle-like claws digging into the soft skin underneath. Baby Tooth fared much better from her seat in Jack's purse. Happily, she poked her head out into the open air, alternating between staring ahead at them at the seemingly endless expanse of ocean and watching the trail of snow behind them.

"All right, Thornado," Jack said, kneeling atop the tidal class. "Why don't we-"

He was cut off by a long, ominous cry from somewhere beneath them. ((You-you-what-you-strange-cousins-wingless-together-flying-you?))

"Jack, look out!"

Casting his gaze to the sea below them, Jack saw a massive shadow rise from its depths. Thornado moved on his own, spreading his wings and leaping into the air as a massive, manta-ray like dragon broke the surface. The dragon was as long as one of the viking's longboats, head to tail, and twice as long at the wingspan. It had two heads that appeared to be a cross between eels and barracudas and spoke in a single voice, just like Barf-and-Belch did. Underneath the water its scales had a silvery-grey sheen, but as it came to a stop just beneath the surface its two rows of spiny dorsal fins broke the water and with each swell of waves sunlight poured over its intense blue scales.

((Curiosity-strange-strange-flying-cousins-caution-worry-wingless-bad?-not-bad?))

"Whoa," Jack breathed as the new dragon called to them. "Hey, Thornado, slow down, I wanna say hi to him."

In the air above them Hiccup and Toothless had also come to a stop, the nightfury's wings beating the air furiously as they hovered overhead. "Wait what? Jack, what are you doing?"

Thornado circled over the wild dragon as Jack took to the air himself and lowered himself until he was just above the surface of the water. Wodensfang remained on the thunderdrum's back and Baby Tooth dug her tiny fingers into the thick material of Jack's purse, eyeing the new dragon cautiously and feeling worry-curiosity-distrust-Love-protectiveness. The dragon's eyes, both sets, were trained on him and the mouths were parted in what looked like feral grins.

((I think we should go, Jackie,)) Baby Tooth tweeted. ((He could be dangerous.))

"He's just curious," Jack assured her. Held aloft by the Wind, he hovered several feet above the surface of the water. He angled himself so that he was stomach down and held out one hand towards the new arrival.

"Jack!" Hiccup called, heart beating furiously. As much as he liked dragons, he knew how dangerous they could be. Especially the wild ones that weren’t used to people, and he couldn’t put a name to this one. Maybe it would turn out to be friendly, or maybe it would see Jack as a potential meal and try to bite his arm off. "Jack, get up here right now!"

"It's fine," Jack called back, and then to the dragon, "Hi there. I'm Jack."

One of the dragon's eel-like heads rose from beneath the water, blinking curiously as it sniffed his outstretched hand. ((You-Icicle-wingless?-no-no-wingless-you-flying-speaking-you-Icicle-dragon-yes?-yes?))

"Well, no, not really. I'm a spirit," Jack replied. "I used to be human, but not anymore."

The dragon hissed. His head shrank back. ((Bad-bad-wingless-threat-angry-bad-wingless-hunt-stalk-kill-cousins.))

Hiccup and Toothless began to descend, neither of them liking the new dragon's unfriendly tone.

"Maybe in other places, but on Berk humans and dragons get along," Jack replied, withdrawing his hand. He tossed a look over his shoulder and continued, "See? Just look at Hiccup and Toothless; they're best friends!"

The dragon seemed to consider his words for several moments. When he said nothing, Jack extended his hand once more.

((Jackie...)) Baby Tooth urged once more. He ignored her.

((Unsure-caution-Icicle-strange-maybe-good-maybe...)) Again the dragon raised one of its heads, this time bringing its muzzle closer and closer to Jack's outstretched fingers.

((STOOOOP!)) Thornado roared, too late.

The moment Jack's skin made contact with the new dragon's he was stuck. He felt his muscles clench and tighten painfully as his nerves seemed to erupt in flames.

"Jack!" Hiccup screamed. Thornado and Toothless snarled in unison, launching a sonic boom and a plasma blast simultaneously at the manta-ray dragon. With a feral hissed it jerked back and dove back into the depths, narrowly avoiding their attacks.

With his connection to the dragon broken, Jack felt his body go slack. Dark spots appeared at the edges of his vision and he plunged into the ocean beneath him.

Toothless swooped downwards, snatching up Jack by his forearms. The Wind screamed around them as they rocketed towards the nearest land, Thornado following closely behind with Jack's staff in his claws.

Jack awoke to an eerily familiar scene; the world was dark and he was being held protectively by thin arms close against another person's body. It was an alien sensation to him, and a blissful one. His arms and legs felt heavy and his lungs hurt and he just wanted to curl up against the other person and go back to sleep.

They would have none of that, however.

"Jack, please wake up. Please, oh gods, don't be dead, you can't be dead..."

Dead? Who was dead? He was immortal. He just wanted to go back to sleep...

((Jackie, please, Love, wake up, wake up...))

Baby Tooth? Why was she crying? Jack tried to peel open his eyes, but they were glued shut. He let out a weak groan.

"Jack!" Hiccup's relieved laugh came out almost as a sob. "Jack, you're okay. Stay with me, bud."

((Sad-scared-Icicle-hurt-scared-sa-a-a-a-ad,)) Toothless's voice whined.

"Mhm... H-Hic? Wha...?"

Finally Jack's eyelids parted. Above him he saw a blurry silhouette of a person leaning in close, their form wavering and dancing like a reflection on choppy water. With each passing second his vision swam a little less and the figure became more and more discernible; the sea of freckles, the mop of messy brown hair, the small, barely noticeable scar on the chin, and clear, intelligent green eyes...

Suddenly Jack was wide awake.

He bolted upright, head nearly colliding with Hiccup's as he broke out into an abrupt coughing fit.

Hiccup and Toothless had brought them to a set of sea stacks, dropping Jack atop the flat surface of one before touching down themselves. Now Toothless and Thornado sat a few feet away, watching the two boys with Baby Tooth and Wodensfang perched atop each of their backs respectively. For once, Hiccup had abandoned his aversion to touching in Jack in favor of clinging to the spirit as though he might vanish any second.

"Jack, relax, breathe," Hiccup urged as he rubbed slow, soothing circles on the spirit's back. Jack shuddered as he struggled to bring his breathing back under control. Baby Tooth and the three dragons crooned happily as he came to.

"I am breathing," he groused. Taking two more gasping breaths, he asked, "What happened?"

"What happened?" Disbelief saturated his tone. Suddenly his expression hardened. "What happened is I told you to get away from that dragon and you didn't listen! The dragon did something and it paralyzed you!"

"Oh." Jack stared at Hiccup dumbly for a moment before he began to pull himself up. His legs still felt like jelly and his clothes were weighed down by seawater, forcing him to rely on Hiccup to stand. "Actually, I think he electrocuted me."

"Is that really important right now?" Hiccup snapped, his grip on Jack's arms tightening. "Why didn't you listen to me!? You could have been killed!"

Jack frowned and pulled away from Hiccup. Baby Tooth settled on his shoulder. "I'm immortal, remember? I can't die."

"Do you actually know that? Like, do you actually know without a doubt that absolutely nothing can kill you? What if that dragon had dragged you underwater? What if it had eaten you?" The viking's voice was getting frantic.

"But he didn't," Jack retorted, turning his back on Hiccup. "Where's Twiner?"

"That's it?" Hiccup scoffed as Jack bent and collected his staff from where Thornado had dropped it on the ground. "That's all you're going to say?"

Scowling, Jack turned on Hiccup. "What else is there to say?"

"Well, you could try apologizing, for one!"

The two teens were oblivious to their audience. Baby Tooth, Wodensfang, Toothless and Thornado said nothing, but watched awkwardly, gazes shifting between the two as their voices steadily rose.

"Apologize for what?" Jack snapped. "I didn't do anything wrong!" For once.

"You didn't listen!" Hiccup's arms were moving seemingly on his own. "I told you to get away from it!"

"Oh, I’m so sorry your majesty!" Jack spat. He didn’t know what had come over Hiccup, but he knew he didn’t like it. “Maybe you’re used to everyone following your orders all the time. Whatever. But I won’t be ordered around by anyone!”

"What!? Orders!? I c- I-I-I can't believe you even think that's what this is about!"

"You might be the leader of your academy, but you are not the boss of me!" Jack snarled as he turned his back on Hiccup. "You know what? Forget it. Come on Baby Tooth."

Baby Tooth tweeted and then immediately zipped to his side. She hid in his purse, trembling as she felt his hurt-confusion-anger-frustration while he in turn felt her sadness-worry-confusion-fear. Sucking in a deep breath and doing what he had been for centuries, Jack bit back his emotions and took off, the Wind carrying him far away from Hiccup and the sea stacks.

"Jack wait!" Hiccup called, but the Winter sprite was already a speck in the distance. With a frustrated groan, Hiccup ran a hand through his hair. Curling his fingers into a fist he tugged at his scalp in a vain attempt to relieve some tension. "Come on Toothless," he said, rushing to the nightfury's side and throwing himself into the saddle. "We should go after him."

Toothless crooned pitifully as Hiccup mounted him. The moment he heard Hiccup's prosthetic click into place and felt his tail flukes balance out he unfurled his wings and leaped into the air, Thornado following closely behind with Wodensfang still perched on his back.

Jack managed to lose Hiccup long before either of them arrived in Berk. As he flew over the village Hiccup was able to see that the village itself had already been cleared of dragons. The other riders must have been hard at work while he and Jack were busy playing, Hiccup realized with a pang of guilt. Looking at the fall of shadows, he knew that he had little over an hour before the Berserkers were due to arrive, and with the fair wind it was likely they would arrive sooner than that. With a reluctant sigh he and Toothless descended before the smithy. Toothless crooned in sympathy as Hiccup unlatched his leg from the prosthetic and climbed out of the saddle.

"You go on to the cove, bud," he said, placing his hands on the underside of the nightfury's jaw and giving a gentle shake. "I'll come get you when it's safe, all right?"

Toothless chirped and nuzzled Hiccup's cheek lovingly before pulling away. He bounded off quickly, disappearing between rows of wooden huts as he raced towards his favorite place on the island. Hiccup waved after him, and then sighed.

"Rough day, Hiccup?"

Whirling around, Hiccup found himself face to face with, "Gobber!" He ran his fingers through his hair. "I didn't notice you there."

"Ah was lookin' fer mah panpipes," Gobber explained through the stall window. He bent, ducking out of sight as he began rummaging through miscellaneous items stowed haphazardly on the shelves. "Thought ah'd give the good chief a bit o' a show when 'e pulled in."

Laughing nervously, Hiccup deigned not to tell the blacksmith that Stoick had actually thrown his panpipes into the ocean several nights ago. "Uh, have you seen Jack anywhere?"

"Eh, yeah, actually." Placing his remaining hand on top of the shelf, Gobber hoisted himself to his feet, giving a pained grunt as something in his back cricked loudly. "Stopped by 'ere a while ago an' asked where the rest o' yer friends were. I sent 'im to the forest where all yer dragons are hidin' out."

"Ah." Well that was a relief. At least Jack had come back to the island. Heaving a sigh, Hiccup leaned against one of the wooden columns holding the smithy roof up. Gobber raised an eyebrow.

"Iiiiis there somethin' ya need to get off yer chest, lad?"

"No... Well, yes... maybe." Hiccup sighed. Again. Pushing himself off of the wall, he turned to face Gobber. "So, I woke up this morning to Toothless bouncing up and down on the roof like he normally does. I go outside, and there's Jack waiting for me with Thornado. He says we don't need to hide the dragons for a little while longer and do I want to go flying and I think, 'sure, why not?' We go out, sun is shining, seas are calm, all is right with the world, and then out of nowhere this dragon, this... incredibly huge dragon that I've never seen before comes up out of the water." By this point Hiccup had begun pacing in circles, waving his arms wildly with the telling of his story.

"Mm-hmm, right." Gobber had gone back to shuffling under the counter searching for his panpipes. "Go on."

"I want to get out of there. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love new dragons, but this thing is freaking enormous and on top of that it's hissing and giving us a nasty look. I tell Jack to get away from it, and you know what that idiot does?"

"'E listens to ye an' ye both fly off into the sunset?"

Hiccup threw up his arms in exasperation. "He reaches out and pets it!"

"You did what!?"

Jack shrugged a bit sheepishly in response to Astrid's question. With the dragons all sequestered in Berk's pine forest and its snowy peak, the teens had taken it upon themselves to watch over them and make sure that they didn’t try to reenter the village until Stoick was ready to break the news to Chief Osvald. It was fairly easy, as Jack's Gift of Tongues made explaining the circumstances doable. The rest of the teens were off patrolling the borders of what they dubbed the 'dragon protection zone' while Jack and Astrid lounged in the same place where the Riders of Berk had been hiding out from their parents on the day that he had fallen through the portal and met them.

"Well, he didn't seem dangerous," Jack replied with a shrug. He was currently sitting behind Astrid, atop a fallen log while she sat on the grass in front of him. As they spoke he was weaving a thin, delicate braid into her golden hair, his staff leaning within arm's reach against the log. "I'm pretty sure he was just curious about us. Worst case scenario I would have just frozen him and flown away."

"And is that what it came to?" Astrid gave Baby Tooth's silver feather a gentle stroke. The frost fairy was sitting in the palm of her hand while Jack was busy working on her hair.

"Well, no. He, uh... He kind of electrocuted me."

"He did what!?"

"I don't think it was on purpose!" Jack added quickly. "He might not have realized that touching me would do that. He really did seem like he was just curious."

"Well, what happened after that?"

"I'm not really sure. My body went stiff and everything felt like it was on fire. Next thing I know I'm waking up in Hiccup's arms."

Astrid blinked. She and Baby Tooth shared a look, and the frost fairy shrugged.

"He seemed scared at first, but when I got up and started walking around he got angry out of nowhere and started yelling and telling me to apologize!" He tied off the end of the small braid and began working on a second, larger one.

"So, what did you say?" Astrid asked, though she could already venture a guess.

"What do you think I said? I told him-"

"-that he didn't do anything wrong! Like giving me a heart attack wasn't 'doing something wrong!'"

"An' ah'm guessin' it all went downhill from there," Gobber sighed. Having finally given up on his panpipes, he leaned his elbow on the counter-top, resting his chin in his hand as he listened to Hiccup's account.

"I mean, what was he thinking!? That I would laugh it off? That I wouldn't care? He nearly died!"

"But 'e didn'," Gobber pointed out, no differently than Jack had. "Mebbe ye're lookin' at this the wrong way."

"What other way is there to look at it?" Hiccup growled. "He was reckless, even when I warned him, and he didn't even care that he scared me half to death."

"Ah, but did 'e know that? From wot ah've seen, the lad's pretty independent."

Hiccup slowed to a stop. Jack had been alone for a long time...

'I'm over three-hundred years old. Believe me, I can take care of myself.'

"But... But he doesn't have to be anymore," Hiccup argued. "He has us now."

"Hiccup, people don' jes stop doin' things the way they've been doin' 'em for years. Unless it's fightin' dragons. Ah like to think we got all tha' outta our systems." When Hiccup scoffed and rolled his eyes, Gobber placed his real hand on the teen's shoulder and continued, "Listen, ah know ye were jes worried about 'im."

"He... He was worried about me?"

"Well, yeah, duh." Astrid admired her reflection in the small hand-mirror crafted of ice that Jack had given her. He’d finished her braids now, winding one small braid through an even larger one on the side of her head. She smiled; it looked good. "I mean, I would have been if I was there. Think about it; wouldn't you have been worried if Hiccup was the one who got hurt?"

Jack flinched. "Well, yeah... B-but that's different! He doesn't have to worry about me; I can take care of myself just fine!"

"You randomly reached out to pet a giant two headed sea dragon you knew nothing about," Astrid pointed out as she handed the mirror back to Jack. "Immortal or not, that’s still kind of incredibly stupid."

Pinching his brows, Jack tossed the ice mirror aside. It shattered the moment it hit the ground.

“Hiccup tried to reach out and pet a giant spiky earth dragon that was trying to kill Toothless,” he argued. He’d deny pouting later.

“Not gonna say Hiccup can’t be stupid and reckless too,” Astrid conceded, putting a little extra emphasis on the ‘too.’ “Look, I get it. You’ve been taking care of yourself for who knows how long before you met us.”

Three hundred years, Jack didn’t say.

“But you aren’t on your own anymore, and that means other people are going to want to look out for you. It’s what friends do.”

'Wow, Hiccup's really protective of you, isn't he?'

'Stop! ...You'll get yourself killed.'

'Jack, please wake up. Please, oh gods, don't be dead, you can't be dead...'

A small part of Jack felt guilty. Another part was indignant. Okay, so he was far from a huge, muscle-bound axe-swinging viking, but he also was by no means weak! He could take care of himself just fine!

But...

He looked to Baby Tooth. He could feel her worry-Love-anger-relief as though it were his own, and he didn’t even need to think about apologizing to her because she could also feel his guilt-regret-Love, but he and Hiccup didn’t have an empathetic bond like that. If Hiccup's fear or worry were anywhere close to Baby Tooth's, how would he have felt it?

Swallowing thickly, Jack said, "I... I guess I do owe him an apology, huh?"

Astrid shrugged noncommittally.

"All right, all right already, I'm going!" Astrid shook her head and chuckled as Jack grabbed up his staff. A trilling sound filled the air as Baby Tooth zipped to his side. "Hey, Astrid... thanks."

"Of course!" The blonde pulled herself to her feet, interlocking her fingers and stretching her arms overhead. "You do realize, though, if I ever hear about you petting strange dragons again I will beat you senseless?"

"Aaaaaaand that would be my cue to run like Hel."

"Stoick's going to want Hiccup to come with him to greet the Berserker chief!" Astrid called as the two immortals leaped into the air. Jack hung back just long enough for her to finish speaking. "In case you were wondering where he was."

Jack nodded before spinning in the air and taking off for the village, Baby Tooth trailing not far behind.

It seemed as though the entire village had come out to greet the Berserker fleet, though Hiccup knew this wasn’t the case; the Riders, for example, were hidden safely away in the woods with the dragons, and Jack's troupe of children was nowhere to be seen.

Neither was the frost spirit himself, for that matter.

It was hardly surprising, Hiccup supposed, that Jack had made himself absent. Even if they hadn’t had an argument, Jack would probably prefer to retreat to the woods to play with the dragons or the kids or both rather than stick around for the Viking politics. With the rest of the teens on dragon-sitting duty, that meant Hiccup would likely be stuck with Dagur while the two chiefs worked out the details of the treaty.

Hiccup suppressed a shudder.

The Berserker fleet was still a cloud of tiny specks on the horizon, but the wind was good and they would be pulling in very soon. Standing behind his father on the pier, Hiccup resigned himself to a lonely day of being tormented, assaulted, and possibly maimed by Osvald the Agreeable's son. Again.

"Hey."

Nearly jumping out of his freckled skin, Hiccup whirled to find himself face to face with none other than Jack. The spirit was staring at him with an apologetic expression on his face... Was it apologetic? Maybe that was just Hiccup's wishful thinking. He was still angry at Jack for not listening to him and being reckless, but Gobber's statement was weighing heavily on his mind. It stung to realize that Jack probably thought of his concern as little more than a nuisance.

Hiccup didn’t want to apologize – not for getting angry and definitely not for being worried – but he realized at this point he might have to. Jack obviously didn’t think he’d done anything wrong. In a way he was like a child resenting the rules set by adults; it didn’t matter that the rules were only meant to keep him safe, only that they stopped him from doing as he pleased.

"Jack, I-"

"Look, Hic-"

Both boys stopped, mid-sentence, and exchanged a slightly awkward look.

"Y-you should go first," Jack said, gripping his staff so tightly that his already pale knuckles turned snow-white.

"No, n-no. Uh, you go first."

"Okay..." Jack's gaze was everywhere but Hiccup's face; on the pier, on the chief's back, on the fleet of Berserker ships now close enough that the skrill insignia on their flags was readily visible. "Look, I'm sorry I worried you," he started, fighting the urge to twist his staff nervously in his hands. "But you really didn't have anything to be worried about. I'm... Well, I can't die. Even if I could, I can take care of myself just fine."

"I know, I just..." Hiccup curled a fist in his hair and then sighed. Could Jack really? If he were less durable would he still have touched that strange dragon? "Look, Jack, I-I'm sorry too. I… I shouldn’t have yelled, I was just… You scared me half to death. I was so sure, for a minute there, that you...”

Jack pressed his lips together, the hand not holding his staff moving to his leather purse. He could feel Baby Tooth vibrating through the material and she stilled as he gently placed his hand over the purse.

“Sorry.”

“...You’re not hurt?”

“Nah,” Jack replied, flashing a quick smile. “I heal fast, and as you’ve oh so eloquently pointed out-” Hiccup flinched. “-I’m not human. My body’s a lot more durable than yours. It’s even more durable than his.”

With his staff, Jack gestured to the end of the pier where Stoick was standing. The chief was talking over something with Gobber, and didn’t seem to have noticed the two boys at all.

“Besides,” Jack continued, “I’ve recovered from way worse.”

Instead of having the calming effect Jack hoped for, his words sent another flash of panic across Hiccup’s face and he regretted them immediately. Biting his tongue, he turned his gaze back out to the ocean.

Hiccup, meanwhile, shifted in place, his prosthetic giving a slight squeak as he ground it into the wooden planks.

"Erm... Jack-"

The clattering of wood against wood as the brow of a Berserker longboat was lowered cut Hiccup off.

"Presenting, the High Chief of the Berserker tribe!"

Hiccup's and Jack's eyes snapped up in unison, towards the large, burly man in studded leather armor standing before the brow of the only moored longboat. The whole of the Hooligan tribe was standing at attention, eyes raised to the man with the booming voice as he held aloft a wicked, two pronged spear.

"Cracker of skulls!"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"Slayer of beasts!"

Jack hoped he wasn’t referring to dragons.

"The great and fearsome-!"

"Osvald the Agreeable?" Gobber asked, eyebrow perked as he gave voice to what everyone present was currently thinking.

"Dagur the Deranged!"

Hiccup's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach as the Berserker stood aside, revealing the son of Osvald the Agreeable.

Dagur scowled at him. Well, at them, expression oozing distaste for the more or less peaceful residents of Berk. Though Dagur was not as burly as many of the other Berserkers, and stood half a head shorter than Stoick, he was still powerful, muscular, and Hiccup had seen first-hand how agile and flexible he was. Like his men, Dagur was dressed in studded leathers. His belt buckle – the same gold, ceremonial one Osvald had worn every year prior to the signing of the treaty – bore the Berserkers' skrill insignia. His braided, copper-colored hair was tucked beneath an iron helmet with two long, lopsided horns curling up into the air and three painted slashes over his left eye gave him an even more intimidating look. As if he wasn’t intimidating enough already.

Terror mingled with dread dulled into resigned acceptance as the Berserker chieftain hocked a loogie into the ocean swell and flashed Hiccup his signature manic grin.

Stoick stared in disbelief. "Dagur?"

Gobber's eyes widened in horror. "Deranged?"

Hiccup groaned. "Oh no."

Dagur's hand became a blur as he snatched a knife from his belt and, without pausing to aim, hurled it at the two teenagers standing on the pier. Hiccup and Jack each hopped to the side moments before the dagger buried itself to the hilt in the wooden bit behind where they’d been standing.

"Oh, perfect," Hiccup sighed.

Jack said nothing. Were his skin not already abnormally pale, someone might have noticed the blood rushing from his face. His eyes were wide and his pupils were dilated with shock and horror as he stared at the man these people called Dagur, hands clenching so tightly around his staff that he nearly broke skin. His muscles bunched, ready either to spring and take off in any direction that would get him away from this place and these people or to swing his staff and send a rain of icicles hurtling towards the Berserker chief.

While he wouldn’t argue that the name 'Dagur the Deranged' was well suited, it was not the name Jack knew this man by. Jack also recalled his skin having a grayish, sickly pallor and his eyes glowing malevolent amber, the air around him cackling with static as he swung his giant axe around like a toy.

Finally Jack spoke, his voice coming out as a barely audible whisper, soft enough that even he hardly heard it. "Perun."

Perun, the Slavic god of warriors, of fire and lightning, and of violent acts of nature.

And a spirit who had it out for Jack Frost.

Chapter Text

Disgust, fear, and rage waged war for control of Jack's emotions. The chieftain was speaking but Jack barely heard a thing, focused as he was on Dagur. Now that he thought about it, Dagur and Perun didn’t look exactly the same. Dagur was shorter, for one, with less bulk and fewer scars lining his face. Still, the resemblance was close enough that Jack was couldn’t dismiss it completely.

As he was taking in Dagur's appearance – picking out each little detail that set him apart from the Slavic god and using them to reassure himself – he failed to notice Hiccup shooting him a strange look. When he felt a calloused hand brush his own, hesitant and trembling the slightest bit, he gave a jolt as his attention was torn away from the Hooligans and the Berserkers.

Hiccup stared of him with an open expression of concern. Careful not to draw the attention of his father or the Berserkers, though he likely wouldn’t have been noticed anyway due to the sheer volume of Dagur's boasting, he mouthed, 'Is everything alright?'

Everything was not alright, but Jack nodded anyway. Shooting Dagur one last parting look – and trying not to jump when his and Dagur's eyes met for just a moment before the Berserker chief's attention returned to Stoick – Jack wrapped his fingers around Hiccup's wrist and started to lead him away from the pier. Hiccup tensed the slightest bit at the touch but for once Jack ignored it, wanting to put as much distance between himself and the red-haired Viking as possible and unwilling to leave Hiccup here with him. Never mind that Hiccup's heavily armed and slightly overprotective father currently held Dagur's attention, Jack would not feel secure until there was an ocean separating him and Hiccup from Dagur the Deranged.

Dagur reveled in the shocked and horrified looks he received as his warrior stepped aside to present him to the people of Berk. Particularly Hiccup's. The fish bone of a Viking had been his childhood companion and playmate during those times he’d accompanied his father, the previous chief of the Berserkers, on these dull peace talks. It was thanks to Hiccup that Dagur had avoided being completely bored to death back then; the memory Hiccup's breathless screams as Dagur shoved his head underwater had a deranged chuckle spilling past his lips and his hand flying to his belt for a dagger to hurl at the toothpick.

The dagger buried itself in the post behind Hiccup with a satisfying thunk as Hiccup and another jumped out of the way and it was only then that Dagur took notice of the white-haired stranger standing among the Hooligans. Stick-thin with not a single weapon or scrap of armor on him, it took only a glance for Dagur to peg him as an unimportant weakling. Though, he did take some pleasure from the flash of fear that crossed the boy’s face when their eyes met before turning his attention to the Hooligan Chief. He strolled confidently across the gangplank, shoulders squared and battle axe in hand.

The Hooligan chief scowled at him, as though he had no right to be there.

"Dagur, where is your father?" Stoick asked, hands on his hips and brows furrowed.

"My father has been… retired," Dagur replied with an air of nonchalance. "He lost his taste for blood. I, on the other hand, am starving!" He threw his head back to sing the last word before breaking out into a fit of dark laughter. In his momentary glee, he missed the worried looks Stoick exchanged with his right-hand man, and Hiccup and the white-haired youth's hasty departure. By the time he had regained his composure, the manic laughter coming to an abrupt halt as he cast a searching gaze about the village, the two were nowhere to be seen.

He was not searching for Hiccup or the foreigner, however. A slow grin creeping across his lips, he flashed Stoick a knowing look and asked, "So… where are you hiding them, Stoick?"

Predictably, Stoick played dumb. Dagur wondered whether he should be amused or insulted as the Hooligan chief calmly asked, "Hiding what, Dagur?"

He decided to go with insulted.

"Do I look stupid to you?" he growled.

Stoick chose not to answer, but his right-hand, the crippled soft cat – what was his name again? Goober? Gobbler? – did mumble something into Stoick's ear. Probably an insult. Likely not enough to warrant a bloody retaliation. Too bad.

"We both know what's going on here," he continued, idly running his thumb over the sharpened edge of his axe just in case the chief's right hand got it in his head to mutter any more snarky comments. "I have it on excellent authority that you're amassing an army of dragons!"

He tossed his axe into the air and caught it again in the other hand, the weight nothing to him.

"Excellent authority?" Dagur feigned boredom as Stoick eyed him suspiciously. "And who would that be, Dagur?"

Dagur loved how the Hooligan chief kept repeating his name in each sentence. As though he were still trying to convince himself of the reality that, yes, Dagur had taken the former chief's place as leader of the Berserker tribe.

"Never mind." No need to compromise a good source of intel, after all. "Just know that if I find it to be true, then my armada will attack with the force of fifty thousand brave Berserker soldiers!"

He had tried to remain calm but as he spoke his voice rose and he swung his axe around to make his point. His men were grinning, the promise or at least threat of a battle to come stirring their blood.

Stoick refused to take the bait.

"Stand down Dagur. There won't be any need for the armada." The Hooligan chief was calm, looking completely unconcerned by Dagur's obvious blood lust. Pity. This would be slightly more difficult than he thought. "Now let's get to the treaty."

With a frown, Dagur raised his axe and began running his thumb along the edge once more.

"Yes, let's. According to the treaty…" His frown turned into a smile, albeit a thin one, as he returned his axe to the holster on the back of his hip. Now that his hands were free he used them to count off his fingers one by one. "My visit starts with a tour of Berk. The armory. The feast in the Great Hall. The killing arena!" Here he flashed a sly grin. "You do still kill dragons here, hmm?"

He didn’t fail to notice how Stoick wouldn’t give him a straight answer to his question.

"Your father never found the tour necessary."

Stoick's voice was low, almost a growl. Perfect. He was finally getting angry.

"As you can see," Dagur growled back, pushing his face so close to Stoick's that their noses almost touched, "I'm not my father. Am I?"

Stoick held his stare. The Hooligan chief's eyes narrowed, disappearing almost completely beneath his furious red brows while his right hand slowly moved to his hip. A slow, manic grin spread across Dagur's face as he watched the movement out of his peripheral vision.

Unfortunately, Gobber – that was his name! – grabbed ahold of the chief's wrist before Stoick's hand could close around the hilt of his sword. This time Dagur caught Gobber's whispered words as he cautioned Stoick against striking Dagur in front of the Berserker armada.

What a shame. It seemed provoking the Hooligans into breaking the treaty and thus starting a war would be more difficult than he’d originally thought.

Jack didn’t slow down until he and Hiccup were well out of the village, despite Hiccup's protests. His heart was pounding like it hadn’t in decades and he hated himself for it. He’d just gotten finished telling Hiccup he didn’t need to be protected and now here he was, fleeing like a human child. But what else could he do? He’d promised to keep his magic a secret and even if he was open about it he doubted anyone would appreciate him attacking a Viking chief in front of both tribes during a peace treaty signing.

Releasing Hiccup's hand Jack loosened the drawstring on his purse, allowing Baby Tooth to worm her way out. She practically vibrated, unsettled by the fear-anger-fury-disgust-horror she had felt from Jack at the pier. Jack kept his focus on her though he could feel eyes on his back. He chose not to acknowledge questioning the look he knew Hiccup was fixing him with.

"Sorry I have to keep shoving you in there," he apologized as Baby Tooth settled on his hand. She crooned as she stretched out her wings and smoothed out her ruffled feathers. "We should find a better hiding place for you-"

"Jack." Hiccup stepped around Jack's turned back. "What was all that about?"

Pressing his lips together, Jack weighed what exactly he could tell Hiccup. "You remember that spirit I told you about before? The one that tried to kill me?"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

"Dagur… looks a lot like him. That's all."

"That's all?" Hiccup's voice was laced with skepticism. "Seems like there's a lot more to it than that."

"There isn't." Jack didn’t know for sure Dagur and Perun had anything to do with one another. Their similar looks could have been coincidence. Or perhaps Dagur was a mortal ancestor of Perun. Before now Jack believed that Perun had been a spirit from the beginning, but now he was beginning to doubt.

Hiccup was unconvinced. Crossing his arms and raising a brow, he continued, despite the voice in the back of his head telling him this was a bad idea, "I thought you couldn't die?"

"I can't," Jack snapped, voice a little sharper than usual. "Didn't stop Perun – the spirit – from trying."

Baby Tooth took to the air as Jack started walking, leading them deeper into the forest. Hiccup hung back for a moment, unsure whether he should follow, before he decided that he didn’t want to leave Jack alone while he was like this and fell into step beside him.

"Do you… I mean, you don't have to if you don't want, but if you do-"

"I don't want to talk about it," Jack cut Hiccup off. "But thanks for the offer."

Hiccup bit the inside of his cheek.

"I'm not fragile, Hiccup," Jack tried to assure his friend. "I'll be fine. I just needed to be away from…" Trailing off he gestured vaguely in the direction of Berk and Hiccup nodded in understanding.

"I can't believe Dagur's actually chief of his tribe now," Hiccup grumbled, kicking at the grass with his remaining foot.

"I can't believe he brought his whole armada with him."

That was strange, and Hiccup wondered why he hadn’t thought about it before. From the sheer number of them, Hiccup guessed that Dagur had brought most of his ships and soldiers along to what was supposed to be a peaceful meeting. Especially considering that meant that his island would be left mostly undefended in their absence. What if another tribe decided to raid during the new Berserker chief's absence?

Hiccup chalked it up to poor judgment on Dagur's part. Most likely Dagur had wanted to make a show of force, show off the size of his fleet during his first diplomatic meeting as the new chief. It seemed like a very Dagur thing to do.

Unfortunately, the sheer number of Berserkers surrounding Berk meant that flying was out of question for the Riders. It would be too easy for them to be spotted by one of the many ships floating in Berk's waters.

It would have been unfair to the other Riders anyway. If they had to stay behind and ensure the dragons did not try to creep back into the village, Hiccup knew he had to as well, no matter how tempting it would be to simply take Toothless and flee the island with him and Jack for the rest of the day.

"Let's go find Toothless," Jack suggested, snapping Hiccup from his thoughts. "I bet he misses you already!"

Baby Tooth chirped either in affirmation or to express similar feelings. Hiccup wished he could understand her the way Jack did.

"He probably went to the cove. It's one of his favorite spots on the island." His other favorite spots being on Hiccup's roof or on the wharf when the fishing boats returned. "We should find Astrid and the others too. Let them know about Dagur."

Jack nodded along. Already he could hear the whispers of dragons from the forest all around him. Maybe they should move them farther inland, towards the mountain. As far away from the village and the Berserkers as possible.

Neither of them noticed the eyes watching them through the underbrush.

The Hooligans, Dagur decided, were completely toothless.

He’d thought that Stoick would have responded to one of the many insults he’d heaped upon on Berk and its people by now. He’d come close. Once again, the chief's hand went to the hilt of a sword. Not the one at his hip but the one Dagur had carelessly thrown while inspecting the Hooligans' armory, nearly impaling Stoick’s skull. Once again, Stoick was stopped from doing anything rash – like cutting Dagur down in front of his men, who were flanking the exit to the armory – by his right-hand man.

It was Gobber who suggested they commence with the signing of the treaty. Why Stoick heeded the words of a fuðflogi was beyond Dagur.

"Ugh, you sound like my father," Dagur scoffed, dropping the sword he was currently holding rather than returning it to its proper place on the weapon rack. Putting on a pathetic, mocking tone he continued, "Sign the treaty Dagur! Leave that chicken alone Dagur! Ooh, put down that axe Dagur!"

Stoick all but snarled at him, stomping up to the teen in an attempt to use his much larger size to cow the other into submission.

"Your father is a great man, and I'll not have you disrespect him."

Dagur smirked. A Berserker chief would not be cowed.

"My father was a coward," he corrected. "I intend to return the Berserkers to their former glory; something he was incapable of doing."

All the manic glee Dagur had expressed before was gone. Now he wore a much darker expression, pure malice twisting his features into something ugly. Stoick held his piercing gaze, fighting the urge to reach for a weapon for a third time. Slowly Dagur's scowl morphed into a smirk. As though he were mocking Stoick for refusing to retaliate. Stoick felt his hand move towards his weapon.

"So, tell me Dagur." Both chiefs were startled as Gobber inserted himself forcibly between the two of them. "What are some of your deranged plans for the Berserker tribe?"

Gobber received a condescending sneer and for a moment it seemed like Dagur might not answer, but it seemed the temptation to boast about his plans proved too good to resist. Dagur had always been a braggart.

"You heard what I said. I will return my tribe to its former glory! Imagine it; Berserker ships spread all throughout the archipelago! Spreading fear and destruction in their wake! The gods will sing songs of our might in battle! The sight of Berserker ships on the horizon will once again put the fear of Odin into the hearts of men!"

The Berserkers flanking the exit raised their spears and cheered, much to Stoick's horror. Were these men really so loyal to Dagur? Had the last fifty years of peace been a result of Osvald keeping his tribe's blood lust in check?

"And what place does the Hooligan tribe have in this glorious future of yours?" he asked, keeping any trace of concern from his voice.

Dagur flashed a toothy grin. "Isn't that what we're here to discuss today?"

With that he turned his back on the Hooligan chief, his steps surprisingly light as he strolled towards the exit. Stoick and Gobber didn’t follow right away. Though they were speaking too low for him to hear, Dagur caught the faintest of whispers being exchanged between them and he knew they were discussing him. He was fine with that; it gave him the perfect opportunity to speak discretely with his own men.

"This isn't working, they're not going to strike back," he told them in in a harsh whisper. "Go find that hiccup of a kid of his. Kill him and make it look like an accident. Stoick will retaliate and refuse to sign the treaty if that fish bone dies while we're here."

The Berserker soldier nodded, accepting his chief's words soundlessly. Stoick and Gobber still seemed to be in conversation, fortunately, and failed to notice a thing. Before they had a chance to Dagur spun on his heel and clapped his hands together loudly, drawing their attention.

"So, I am starving! How soon until the feast in the Great Hall?"

Stormfly noticed the figures moving through the trees before her rider did and let out a friendly chirp in greeting. Astrid turned her attention to the trees where Stormfly had indicated and cracked a smile as a silver and blue blur raced from the shadows, coming to hover a few inches from her face.

"There you are Baby Tooth!"

A few seconds later Hiccup and Jack appeared in her line of sight.

"And there you two morons are." Here tone was light and playful. "Are you done acting like complete idiots now?"

"Who, us?" Jack replied, his tone matching hers. "Never!"

Astrid rolled her eyes but nonetheless a small smile tugged at her lips.

"Where are the others?" Hiccup asked. He’d seen none of the other Riders on their way to Astrid's post, nor their dragons. Plenty of wild ones, yes, but Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf-and-Belch, Wodensfang, and Toothless were as absent as the Riders.

"Oh, I dunno." Why did Astrid's voice sound so sly right there? "Maybe right behind you?"

Hiccup had no chance to question her before a massive blur of black scales tackled him to the ground. Jack and Astrid's laughter rang through the air as Hiccup buried his face in the dirt and covered his head with his arms to defend his hair from the assault from Toothless's slobbery dragon kisses.

"Toothless, no! Bad dragon!" he cried as he struggled to free himself. In the end, he succeeded only in getting himself turned onto his back, which left his face vulnerable to Toothless's tongue. At least he was licking up the dirt from his face, Hiccup thought.

"Alright, alright," Astrid scolded, grabbing a hold of Toothless's harness and tugging him away from Hiccup. "Let the kid breathe. I know you missed him but at this rate he's going to drown in your spit."

Toothless whined but allowed himself to be pulled back. Hiccup groaned in disgust as he pulled himself to his feet, spitting and swiping furiously at his face to get rid of the coat of nightfury drool.

"Yuck! Toothless! I told you that doesn't wash out!"

Goff goff goff! Toothless just laughed at Hiccup's discomfort. Up until Hiccup swiped a handful of drool from his face and flicked it into Toothless's. The nightfury flinched, glaring at Hiccup as though to say 'how dare you,' before he started swiping the drool from his face with his fore paw.

Jack, Astrid, and Baby Tooth were laughing the whole time.

"Nice sneak attack Toothless!" Jack complemented as he approached the nightfury and gave him a gentle scratch on the chin. The indignation melted away from Toothless's face, though he tried to fight it, and the huge dragon went limp, relaxing into Jack's touch. "There were a few times I was sure Hiccup would notice you following us, but you did great!"

Hiccup went rigid, turning to face Jack with a look of accusation and betrayal.

"You knew he was following us!?"

"Almost since we got into the woods," Jack admitted with a mischievous grin.

"Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Well I didn't notice him right away either. Baby Tooth's the one who saw him first."

"Baby Tooth!"

The frost fairy tweeted remorselessly and stuck her tongue out at Hiccup. Toothless was goff goff goffing again while Astrid and Jack were stifling snickers of their own.

"You all are terrible. The worst friends ever."

Astrid, still snickering, smirked and said, "Yup, but unfortunately you're stuck with us." She shrugged. "Besides, it could be worse; you could be stuck babysitting Dagur while the chiefs talk. By the way, how'd you manage to slip out of that? Or are you going to tell me you're ditching?"

Simultaneously Hiccup and Jack tensed. Astrid watched, a pit forming in her stomach as they exchanged nervous glances.

"…What? What did I say?"

Hiccup looked to Jack for help, but the winter spirit's lips were pressed together into a fine line. With a sigh, Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair and tried to think of the best way to tell her what had happened.

"So, uh, the thing is… Osvald isn't the chief of the Berserkers anymore."

Astrid's eyes widened in realization and horror.

"Oh gods. Don't tell me-"

"Dagur's the new Berserker chief," Hiccup confirmed to Astrid's growing horror. "My dad's giving him a tour right now."

From the look on Astrid's face, Hiccup may as well have told her that Berk was sinking into the sea. Stormfly crooned, sensing her rider's distress, and pressed her beak to Astrid's hair consolingly. Astrid placed her hand on the nadderhead's chin, taking a deep breath as she regained her composure.

"So, what does that mean exactly? For us I mean."

"I… I don't know," Hiccup admitted. "Dad was going to tell Chief Osvald about the dragons eventually, but Dagur…"

He shuddered, remembering the Berserkers' last visit to Berk. That had been before he met Toothless, before the battle against the Red Death, before the war between Vikings and dragons had ended. Back then Dagur often dragged him out into the woods to seek out dragons intentionally, intent on slaying one himself and presenting a bloody trophy to his father. Even then, however, dragons had avoided humans as much as possible, outside of their raids for food for their queen, and Dagur's noisy crashing through the woods usually chased them away long before the boys could lay eyes on one. Thus, Dagur would typically turn his aggression towards Hiccup.

Again, Hiccup shuddered.

"I don't think Dagur would handle the news well."

"That's an understatement." Astrid placed her hands on her hips. "But even if he wanted to, it's not like Chief Stoick could keep the dragons a secret from the Berserker tribe forever. The chief of the Shivering Shores already saw him riding on Thornado. And we've fought the Outcasts with dragons too. Word'll spread. The Berserkers will find out eventually."

"Is that a bad thing?" Jack asked. "Why not just tell them now and get it out of the way? You could always teach them how to train dragons of their own."

For a third time in five minutes, Hiccup shuddered. "Please, I don't want to think about Dagur riding a dragon."

There were collective murmurs of agreement from everyone present.

"I'm just gonna follow Dad's lead on this. He likes Dagur. I'm sure he'll figure out a way to resolve things peacefully."

Jack gave Hiccup an odd look, eyebrow raised and a frown marring his face.

"Your dad likes him?"

Hiccup scratched the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. "Well, Dagur's an extra-large boy with beefy arms and extra guts and glory on the side," he explained with a shrug. "Pretty much the ideal heir for a Viking chief."

"The chief used to make Hiccup spend time with Dagur when they were kids," Astrid added. "I guess he thought being used as a punching bag would toughen Hiccup up or something."

Even Baby Tooth looked furious on Hiccup's behalf.

"That's messed up!"

Although he understood where Jack was coming from, there was a part of Hiccup that couldn’t resist leaping to his father's defense.

"It wasn't that bad." Hiccup flinched when he saw the disbelieving look Jack was fixing him with. "Okay, it was terrible, but it was only one day out of a whole year."

"Hiccup-" Jack started, only to have Hiccup cut him off.

"Don't. Just… It's okay. I mean, I survived, right?" He let out a sheepish laugh. One that was abruptly silenced by Astrid smacking the back of his head. "Ow!"

"You do realize what you sound like, right?" she snapped. "You sound exactly like Jack after that stunt he pulled."

Both boys turned on her with protests on their lips.

"I don't-"

"That's not-"

"Shut up," she silenced them. "Yes you do and yes it is."

Neither responded to that. Hiccup and Jack exchanged an awkward glance and Toothless and Baby Tooth offered their companions consoling looks while making no move to defend them from Astrid's wrath.

The awkward silence was broken by the sudden loud crashing of bodies through the trees. Hiccup and Jack spun while Astrid's hand flew to her hip, where her axe rested. Blue and green and red and orange bodies flew from the trees letting out a chorus of ((hunters-bad-bloodlust-bad-hide-bad-bad-run!))

"There are dragon hunters in the woods!" Jack translated in a harsh whisper.

"Everybody hide!" Hiccup ordered.

By the time the dragons' pursuers – two burly Berserkers brandishing their blades – burst through the undergrowth the three teens, two dragons, and one frost fairy were nowhere to be seen.

"This is pointless! 'E wasn't in the village, 'e isn't out 'ere! Island's too 'uge! The runt could be anywhere by now," one was complaining to the other as he smacked a branch in frustration. The branch retaliated, snapping back to strike the warrior across the face.

"No point in complainin,'" his companion countered. "Let's just 'urry an' find 'im afore the feast in the Great 'all. You don' wanna miss out on that, do ya?"

"Ah don' even see why we need to bother with this! If the Chief wants a fight so bad why don't 'e just kill their chief an' be done with it?"

"Because ye great dolt! Near 'alf our forces are still loyal to Osvald the Ailing! We attack first an' they may just turn around and side with the 'Ooligans! But!" A yellow-toothed grin stretched across the Berserker's face. "If the 'Ooligan chief attacks first… Well, they'd 'ave no choice but to 'onor ol' Osvald an' defend 'is 'eir from their treachery. Ya see where I'm goin' with this?"

Though he was still nursing his bruised eye, the second Berserker flashed a grin of his own. "Aye. Ah see what yer sayin.'"

"Good. Now let's find that hiccup an' slay 'im afore we miss the feast in the Great 'All! Ah'm starving!"

The two continued on their way, crashing through the trees without a care for who might hear them or ever noticing the eyes watching them from the shadows of the forest. Nobody moved until the Berserkers were long out of earshot. Astrid and Hiccup crawled out from the underbrush while Jack dropped down from the tree he had been perched in, Baby Tooth hovering over his shoulder. Toothless and Stormfly stood from their crouched positions behind the fallen log that had blocked them from view.

Hiccup was the first to speak.

"I don't believe it. Dagur never intended to sign the treaty. He was going to break it all along."

"Well I believe it," Astrid said as she plucked a leaf from her braid. "I mean, it's Dagur."

Now it made sense. Dagur had brought along his armada because he was planning for a fight to begin with. Why hadn’t he paid more attention before? Hiccup mentally kicked himself for not seeing this turn of events coming.

"We have to warn my dad."

"And then what?" Jack asked. "Won't Dagur just keep trying to kill you?"

"Not in front of the whole village," Hiccup replied as he mounted Toothless. Though the nightfury had managed to remain silent while the Berserkers were passing through Jack could now hear his low growl of ((fury-rage-no-hurt-Hiccup-Beloved-my-mine-Love-protect.))

"I think we should find the rest of the Riders first," Astrid suggested. She had also mounted her dragon, who was currently raising and lowering the quills on her tail in agitation. "We need to let them know about the Berserkers in the woods anyway."

"Where are they?" Jack asked.

"Snotlout's posted on the other side of the woods and Fishlegs and the twins took the kids and Wodensfang to the Lost Cavern to play hide-and-go-kill." Upon seeing the horrified look on Jack's face, she added, "Nobody's doing any real killing. It's just pretend. A war game."

"Oh. So, it's kind of like cowboys and Indians? Or cops and robbers?" Instead of an answer Jack received confused looks from the two Vikings. "They're games some kids back home liked to play… Actually, never mind. We should get going."

They ended up taking the long way to the Lost Cavern to avoid the Berserkers tromping through the woods. Snotlout was found dozing off at his post, which earned him a blow to the head courtesy of Astrid. He whined and demanded to know what was going on but nobody would give him any answers until they had the whole group together.

Upon their arrival at the mouth of the Lost Cavern they found Meatlug and Barf-and-Belch attempting – unsuccessfully – to bury their heads in the cold-hardened forest floor. Toothless, Stormfly, and Hookfang refused to enter and it was no wonder why; instantly after entering the cavern their ears were met with uproarious, cackling laughter that bounced off the walls of the cave and assaulted them from every direction. The source turned out to be the twins who were viciously mocking Fishlegs. Poor Fishlegs had been pinned on his back, surrounded by a horde of children assaulting him with wooden blades. Wodensfang was present as wall, although he wasn’t taking part in the assault on Fishlegs. Instead the tiny dragon had attached himself to Tuffnut's helmet by his jaws and did not appear to be letting go any time soon.

The sound of Astrid clearing her throat silenced the cavern quickly enough. The twins' laughter came to an abrupt halt and the children froze, their heads snapping towards the new arrivals. The quiet lasted for only a moment before the children dropped their swords and swarmed around Jack, Hiccup, and Astrid.

"Jack, where were you? We had to start without you!"

"Did you see the Berserkers? Were they cool? Did you fight any of 'em?"

"Hey, are you ever gonna make me that sword?"

"Aright, aright, back it up!" Snotlout barked, inserting himself into the group of excited children. "Important Dragon Rider business at hand, no time for playing around, you got that runts?"

The children settled down with a disappointed groan and shuffled away, but not before Wulfric, with as much strength as a five year old viking could muster, stomped down hard on Snotlout's foot. He bit down on his tongue to stop the stream of curses while a few of the younger children, and Jack, snickered.

"Sorry kiddos," Jack said as he knelt and gave Wulfric a pat on the head. "We'll be back later, but we gotta borrow Fishlegs and the twins for a bit, okay?"

"YES!" It wasn’t one of the children who answered. "Please! Borrow me! Get me out of here!"

Fishlegs held his hands up for someone to grab, but his help came in the form of the twins who, instead of taking him by his hands, grabbed him by each foot and proceeded to drag him out of the cavern.

The kids were left in the cave to continue their game. As soon as the Riders of Berk and Jack emerged into the sunlight their dragons swarmed them, Wodensfang taking his usual perch on Jack's shoulder.

"So, what's the big deal?" Ruffnut huffed as she placed her hands on her hips. Her brother followed up with, "Yeah, what's more important than mayhem?"

"It's about the Berserkers," Hiccup started, causing Snotlout to perk up.

"Are they here? Did you see Dagur? Does he want to hang out with me?"

"No," Hiccup answered curtly, but Snotlout simply ignored him.

"Did he bring any cool weapons? Did he mention me at a- auuuggggggghhhhhh!"

Snotlout's line of questioning turned into a shriek as a snowball was shoved unceremoniously down the back of his tunic. The twins howled with laughter as he started flailing on the spot, arms twisted at uncomfortable angles as he tried to shake the snow loose from his clothing. Even Baby Tooth and the dragons snickered at the antics, and Hookfang smacked his rider over the back of the head with his tail.

Rolling her eyes, Astrid turned to Hiccup and said, "You were saying?"

"Dagur's the new chief of the Berserkers. And they're not here to sign a peace treaty; they're here to start a war."

The twins perked up, suddenly interested in the conversation, while Fishlegs felt the blood rush from his face.

"Whoo! We get to play hide-and-go-kill for real!" Tuffnut cheered, pumping his fists into the air. He shared a maliciously playful look with his sister and the pair rubbed their hands together in unison.

Hiccup was quick to rain on their parade.

"No, we're not. We're shutting this down before it starts."

The twins looked like Hiccup had just told them there would be no Snoggletog that year. Ignoring their betrayed expressions Hiccup continued, "Dagur's men said that half of the Berserkers are still loyal to Osvald, so we know he won't do anything obvious… I think…"

"They made it sound like he's trying to get Stoick to instigate things," Astrid pointed out.

"What's Dagur gonna do?" Snotlout asked. "Call the Chief argr in front of the whole village?"

Nobody noticed how Jack's face twisted up in confusion, not even Hiccup who just continued speaking.

"I don't think so. I think…" Hiccup thought back to the two Berserkers, and the conversation he had overheard between them. "I think they're going to try to kill me."

Snotlout raised an eyebrow. "Aaaaaaaand… That's a bad thing?"

Jack's staff made a solid crack over the back of his head. Astrid followed up by driving her fist into his stomach. Even Baby Tooth came to Hiccup's aid, launching herself at Snotlout's face driving her needle-sharp beak into his cheek. Snotlout yelped and reeled back, causing him to lose his balance and end up toppled on his back. Hookfang lowered his head and to his aching rider and snapped up the back of his tunic in his jaws, hoisting Snotlout to his feet.

((Exasperation-mine-wingless-calm-shush-you.))

"Anyway," Hiccup continued, too used to Snotlout's blatantly cruel remarks to be offended at this point, "I think I'll be safe in the Great Hall in front of everybody, but that doesn't mean that Dagur still won't try something."

After all, Dagur had no reservations about throwing a dagger at him right after the Berserkers had docked… Or capturing him in a brutal choke-hold in front of both of their fathers when Hiccup was fourteen. Or attempting to drown him when they and several teens from both tribes went swimming in the Cove when Hiccup was twelve.

"If he really wants to start a war… I don't know. If he can't figure out a way to push my dad into attacking first he might just go ahead and start it himself, even if it means dividing his forces."

Speaking up for the first time, Fishlegs asked, "So what do we do?"

Suddenly Jack's whole face lit up. This time Hiccup did notice as Jack shot him a mischievous look. "Hide-and-go-kill. We play a war game."

"Jack, now's really not the time to be playin-" Astrid started, only to be cut off by Hiccup.

"No, wait, I think he's on to something here!"

Astrid raised an eyebrow before it suddenly dawned on her what Jack was saying. When she met eyes with the Winter spirit and saw his cheeky grin she knew he was thinking what she thought he was thinking.

Even the twins seemed to be on board, for once, eyes gleaming with mischief. Only Fishlegs and Snotlout seemed to be lost.

Jack motioned for everyone to huddle, dragons included, and began to whisper his plan to them.

Though the sun had only just disappeared over the horizon, the Great Hall was already a bustle of activity. A fire lit the massive pit in the center of the chamber around which sat the two chiefs, Gobber, as well as a handful of Hooligan and Berserker warriors. Every year the chief's heirs would sit beside their fathers during these meetings. This year both spots remained empty, Dagur having no named heir and Hiccup nowhere to be found. This was odd. Hiccup had a habit of disappearing, true, but never had he intentionally skipped one of the Berserkers' and Hooligans' peace talks. Stoick tried not to let the worry he felt onto his face. Memories of years past returned to the chief – Hiccup returning to the Great Hall for the feast covered in cuts and bruises courtesy of Osvald's son and one year corpse-pale with blue lips and teeth chattering so fiercely that not a word could be heard above the noise – and he couldn’t help fearing the worst.

Dagur hardly seemed to notice the absence. If anything, he seemed unusually happy, grinning like a terrible terror that had gotten into a barrel of fish. Stoick felt his stomach clench in fear. No, Dagur wouldn’t have made such a bold move, he tried to assure himself. In all likelihood something had arisen with the dragons and Hiccup was taking care of it, like a dutiful son.

When the last of the Vikings had finally taken their seats Dagur rose to his feet. As the honored guest, it was his place to lead the ful to Odin to kick off the feast. Holding his goblet aloft, Dagur proclaimed in a booming voice, "A toast to death in battle!"

Stoick decided to turn it in a slightly different direction.

"To your father!" the Hooligan chief called as he rose to his feet and soon the rest of the Vikings were following suit.

"To Osvald!"

"May he forever feast in the Hall of Great Kings!"

It was more difficult than expected for Stoick to suppress the smug smirk threatening to appear on his lips as Dagur plopped back into his seat with a pout.

"Fine, whatever!" the young chief huffed. "To Osvald! To Osvald! Bladdity bladdity blah!" He grunted as he whipped his dagger out of his belt and stabbed it through the large slab of meat that had been presented to him, garnering a few disapproving looks from both tribes.

"Well, on that cheery note," Gobber started as he rose from his own seat, a parchment rolled neatly in his hand. He walked around the table to stand beside Dagur at the head of the table and unrolled the scroll, revealing the unsigned treaty identical to the ones Osvald had signed countless times before. "Shall we sign the treaty and send you on your way?"

Instantly Dagur's ire melted away and once more he rose to his feet.

"Great idea! Let's sign that treaty!" There was something in his voice that Stoick did not like. Motioning to the Hooligan warriors he cried, "Bring us the dragons blood!"

Silence fell in the Great Hall.

With a grumble, Stoick stood from his chair and said, "Don't be ridiculous Dagur. Your father and I haven't signed a treaty in dragon's blood for years!"

Rolling his eyes and giving the Hooligan chief a contemptuous sneer, Dagur barked, "Why would that be a problem, Stoick? Unless, of course, you don't kill dragons anymore?"

"We still kill dragons," Stoick growled. How he would prove that without actually killing one of the beasts in front of Dagur, he had no clue. Fortunately, Gobber was ready with a lie to help the Hooligan's chief credibility.

"The problem is we've killed so many, there isn't a dragon within two hundred miles of-"

Gobber never got to finish. A terrible, deafening roar echoed throughout the Great Hall. A howl pierced the air as the wind outside suddenly picked up and with a great tremble the doors burst wide open. Hooligans and Berserkers alike gasped in awe as a massive dragon cloaked in a wreath of flames invaded the hall.

"Except that one," Gobber deadpanned.

The Hooligans stood in stunned silence while the Berserkers gaped and reached for their weapons as the monstrous nightmare rushed into the hall, leaving sweeping scorch marks in his wake as he rounded the Vikings as though he were herding them. And like that, he was gone again, disappearing as quickly through the massive doors as he had appeared and leaving nothing but soot and claw marks in his wake.

Before anyone had a chance to process what had just happened Dagur was howling in elation.

"Did you see that!? That was a monstrous nightmare! It must be a sign from Odin himself! He wishes us to capture the mightiest of dragons and sacrifice it in his name… Or die trying!" Dagur grabbed a hold of Stoick's shoulders and gave him a hearty shake, cackling madly as he did. "It's gonna be amazing!"

Dagur released Stoick only to leap up onto the table, snatching up his dagger as he did.

"Tonight, we hunt dragon!" he cried as he hurled his knife towards the seat which Hiccup would normally occupy where it buried itself in the wood of the chair. The Berserker warriors raised their weapons and began chanting, hearts pounding as the thrill of a great hunt took hold of him. Nobody noticed Stoick and Gobber as they exchanged worried glances.

Under his breath, Stoick sent a quick prayer to Thor that his son was safe. If there were dragons rampaging, who knew what Hiccup had gotten himself into?

A blizzard was raging. Berk had a reputation for harsh winters and sudden blizzards, but even so this was unnatural. The sky had been clear all day, not a cloud to be seen before the feast in the Great Hall, and now the winds were howling and snow was falling in fat clumps and there wasn’t an inch of grass or dirt to be seen. Even with the monstrous nightmare’s flames melting the snow, it piled up again in only a matter of seconds and the pursuing vikings were able to leave slushy footprints in their wake.

Hookfang led the hunters out into the woods, flames leaving a wet trail behind him and making him easy to spot at a distance despite the thick clouds and absent sun. Torches held high, the Viking warriors pursued him deep into the woods, far from the safety of the village. Several times it seemed like he might lose the hunting party, only to stop and turn angry yellow eyes on them, releasing a deafening roar that practically shook the island.

"Perhaps," Gobber suggested as the monstrous nightmare paused once again, craning his long neck around to watch the hunting party tromp after him, "the dragon is tryin' ta lead us into a trap?"

"Doesn't matter," Dagur growled back, holding his torch aloft. "That dragon's head is mine… Ours." The correction was almost an afterthought. "Besides, it's only appropriate that a treaty for the two most powerful Viking tribes be signed with the blood of the most fearsome dragon, don't you think Stoick?"

Stoick never got a chance to answer. All of the sudden a fierce gust blew out Dagur's torch, leaving them only the dragon for illumination. That was when the growls rose from the darkened forest, quiet enough at first that the howling wind drowned them out, and then rising to a deafening scream. The hunters spun in every direction, dropping their extinguished torches to raise their spears and axes and swords. One by one, lights appeared in the forest as the dragons emerged, flames held in their mouths as they quickly and efficiently surrounded the viking hunting party. Gobber had been right. It was a trap.

"What in Thor's name is going on!?" Gobber hissed, taking a step closer to Stoick as he resisted the urge to raise his weapon. Stoick, on the other hand, had already noticed the zippleback, deadly nadderhead, and gronkle at the front of the horde and drawn his sword from his sheath.

"Something’s wrong with the dragons,” he hissed to Gobber, drawing his sword from its sheath. “Fight to defend. Try to drive them away if you can.”

"Take their heads!" Dagur howled. "A head for each of us!"

The howling wind was drowned out by the sound of roaring vikings and dragons. They clashed as they hadn’t since before the defeat of the Red Death, claws raking flesh and swords biting scales. But it soon became apparent that something was… off. A deadly nadder rushed at Stoick, striking him not with its deadly talons or quills, but headbutting him, and when he grabbed it by the horns and threw it off into the treeline the beast flew off, giving up without any real damage. Other dragons acted much the same way with the Hooligans, going in for quick, inefficient attacks and allowing themselves to be driven back at the slightest retaliation. The Hooligans caught on quickly, maybe a little relieved even that their island’s dragons didn’t seem to be after their blood after all.

The Berserkers, however, were fighting for real.

Blood stained the snow, both human and dragon. Though the Hooligans' allowed their dragon opponents to flee at the first opprotunity the Berserkers were still very much aiming to kill, and the dragons retaliated in kind. A Berserker screamed as a nadderhead snapped him up in its talons and lifted him high into the air, dropping him from such a height that he must have broken something. Little by little, however, the Vikings began to drive the wild dragons back. The Berserkers cheered as the beasts turned back to the trees, crying out in pain and fear and anger as they did. Dagur was laughing maniacally as his weapon made solid contact with a dragon's side.

Hookfang's pained howl drew Stoick's attention and he swiveled his head around to be met with the sight of Dagur holding his sword high above the monstrous nightmare's head, ready to bring it down on his neck. Grip on his sword tightening, Stoick started for him. It was dark, after all, and they were in the middle of a battle with ferocious beasts; nobody could blame him if, in the chaos and confusion, he mistook the curling horns on Dagur's helmet for the horns of a dragon.

Both chiefs were stopped from delivering their blows by the sound of screaming as it filled the air. Not the screams of men or dragons, or the howl of wind, but the scream of something moving impossibly fast, almost invisible in the dark.

It was one of the Hooligans who identified it first, having heard that same sound countless times before back when the dragons still raided their village for food.

"NIGHTFURY! EVERYBODY TAKE COVER!"

Even with the warning, nobody had time. A bolt of purple fire lit up the area and suddenly the ground beneath their feet exploded as a plasma blast struck the ground in the middle of the skirmish, sending Vikings and dragons alike flying away from each other. Dimly Stoick was aware that the majority of the dragons were retreating into the woods to lick their wounds, but his focus was elsewhere. He would punish Hiccup later for sending a plasma bolt at him, but he could understand why he had done it if it was to break up the fight. He picked up his face from the snow, combing a few ice clumps from his beard as he did, and turned to find-

Not Hiccup. That was a nightfury alright, poised in the middle of the battlefield with its wings flared and claws digging into the snow, but the rider was not Hiccup! Stoick wasn’t even sure if it was human!

The being's body sparkled as the icicles protruding from its back like a cloak caught light from the surrounding flames. Great horns like those of a dragon curled upwards from its temples and when it turned its head to look at him Stoick saw that it had no face… Or maybe that icy mask was its face! Clawed hands curled around a wicked-looking spear that was lined with dagger-sharp spikes of ice. The tip of the spear gleamed in the starlight, long and wicked and so sharp that Stoick imagined it would be easy to stab someone in the heart through even armor and bone with such a weapon.

It took no more than a thought to identify the strange creature riding bareback atop the nightfury. What else could it be but a frost giant? Pulling himself to his feet, Stoick raised his sword, now ready to fight for real.

"Chief, look out!"

Astrid's voice was not as much a surprise as the colorful quills suddenly flying at his face. Fortunately, Stoick's reflexes were sharp and he raised his shield arm in time to block the attack. When he lowered his shield, he found Astrid herself had leaped into the fray and was now engaged with Stormfly, the deadly nadderhead looking every bit as wild and ferocious as she had before she and Astrid had bonded.

She wasn’t the only member of the Academy to have appeared on the battlefield. Stoick found Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut all engaged in battle with their own dragons. Hiccup, he noted, was nowhere to be seen.

"The nightfury's mine!" Dagur called out to his men as they leveled their spears on the one dragon present not currently fighting. A twisted sneer stretched across the Berserker's face as he locked his eyes on the frost giant. "And so is its rider."

Toothless bared his teeth at Dagur. Stoick's eyes trailed down to the nightfury's tail; which was missing a fluke. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, that was Toothless, but where was his riding gear? Why was he acting so vicious, allowing this creature to ride him? Where was Hiccup!?

"We must protect our honored guests!" Gobber cried suddenly, determined to get the Berserkers gone so they could deal with the monster and rescue Toothless. And find out what it had done to Hiccup. He grabbed Dagur by the shoulders and tried to pull him from the battlefield, only to be thrown off by the surly Berserker.

"Run if you want!" he snarled, turning his blade on Gobber. "But Dagur the Deranged will not retreat!"

As he turned his attention back to the nightfury and the frost giant he almost regretted that decision. The nightfury's jaw had parted and a glow was building inside. Dagur had no time to react before he was slammed into from behind, the dragon launching its fireball over his head as he was thrown face forward into the snow. A great explosion cracked the ground where the dragon's attack had struck but Dagur's attention was elsewhere; on the scrawny Viking who, as far as he was concerned should’ve been dead… and as far as he knew, had just saved his life.

"Hiccup!?"

"Dagur," Hiccup started, voice tense, "You need to get out of here. Your tribe just lost a chief, they can't lose another one. This is our island, we'll protect it! So just go!"

With that Hiccup pulled himself off of the Berserker chief and charged towards the frost giant and the nightfury, sword drawn. Toothless snarled at him but the jötunn seemed unperturbed. Then again, it was impossible to get a read on the thing's expression as it seemed to lack any outstanding facial features.

"Back, you… fiend, you!" Hiccup called, drawing the creatures' attention away from Dagur. The Berserker chief watched, amazed, as the frost giant forgot him and instead directed his mount towards Hiccup, spear held high. "You'll not harm my friend, Dagur!"

A swing of its spear sent a flurry of icicles hurtling towards Hiccup, but the scrawny Viking raised his shield in time. The ice shattered against the wood but the frost giant wasn’t finished. Toothless lunged forward, tackling Hiccup and pinning him to the ground. Hiccup lost his grip on his sword and struggled underneath his shield to push the impossible weight off him. Stoick finally moved to intervene, grabbing the dragon by its tail and struggling to yank it from his son, but to no avail. Even with the monsters atop him Hiccup managed to meet Dagur's eyes one last time.

"You owe it to your people!" he called. It was as Hiccup said this that Dagur had to acknowledge that his men weren’t winning this battle. These dragons were different from the ones they’d chased away, smarter somehow. Like they had been trained in combat. Most of his men had already fallen back and if not for the Hooligan warriors Dagur had no doubt he would have lost them to the dragon's teeth and fire.

Hiccup was right, as much as it pained him to acknowledge it; they had to retreat. Pride smarting, Dagur turned his back on the battlefield, ducking underneath a blast of fire from the nadderhead as he ran.

"Berserkers, to the boats!" he ordered, despite the fact that most of his men were already making a run for it. Gobber ran after him, waving a parchment in his hand.

"What about the treaty?" the blacksmith called, apparently unconcerned by the dragon fire all around him.

Dagur hung back for a moment, eyes flicking from Gobber to the treaty, and then to Hiccup, Stoick, the dragon, and the frost giant. Finally, Stoick had succeeded in rescuing his son and separating the dragon from its rider, but that left him facing off the frost creature while Hiccup stared down the nightfury. All around them dragons and Hooligans were still fighting, fireballs flying every which way, colorful quills lining the ground, and night echoing with the dragons' roars.

Dagur ducked, narrowly having his head removed by a flying ball of molten rock.

"Consider it signed!" he shouted as he turned and followed his men, running towards the docks as fast as his legs would carry him. All the way through the forest the cries of dragons followed the Berserkers, urging them ever onward. The cries didn’t stop until every last Berserker was gone from the forest.

Stoick grunted as he swung his sword at the frost giant. The creature jumped nimbly out of the way, making no move to strike. It just kept dodging, its movements graceful and fluid despite the armor of ice coating its body. With a growl Stoick lunged at it only to have it flip over his head and land behind him, perched on its tiptoes. Not noticing the Berserkers' retreat, Stoick spun, sword extended to cleave his foe in two, but once again his attack was avoided. The frost giant shot straight up into the air and stayed there, held aloft on the wind. Stoick – and all of the adult Hooligans – stared in awe as the creature above them raised its spear skyward. And then, all at once, everything just stopped.

The howling wind fell silent.

The heavy snow disappeared.

The dragons, who had been snarling viciously and attacking their own riders, all went limp, aggressively slit pupils rounding out as they looked around curiously as though released from a… a spell.

Suddenly the forest was awash in silvery light as the clouds parted to reveal the moon and stars, and a final fierce gust carried the jötunn off into the sky. It was long gone in a matter of seconds.

The adult Hooligans exchanged uncomfortable looks among themselves. None of them could make sense of what had just happened or what they had seen. The children, they noticed, were more concerned with consoling their scared and injured dragons than in the creature. The twins each spat into their palms and clapped their hands together before knocking their skulls against one another's, Barf-and-Belch imitating the gesture by butting his heads together. Fishlegs was happily scratching Meatlug's belly and Snotlout was giving Hookfang what Stoick supposed must have been a victory speech. And Hiccup...

"Dad." Stoick would never admit that he had jumped at the sound of his son's voice. "Dad, it’s okay, I think the dragons are back to normal." A slight pause. Hiccup was breathing hard. “Are you okay?”

Stoick stared down at Hiccup, eyes going wide in disbelief. His son. His brave, kind, good son. He was safe, alive, and asking if Stoick the Vast was okay.

“Dad, what’s wro-”

“For a moment I feared-”

Both had started talking at the same time, and stopped just as abruptly. Toothless crooned, drawing their eyes. No longer snarling and growling, the dragon stood at Hiccup's side, leaning into Hiccup's hand as Hiccup scratched its scaly hide and its tail was waving contentedly behind it.

"Hiccup, what exactly happened here tonight?" Stoick wasn’t the only one looking for answers. Gobber and each of the Hooligan warriors brought along on the hunt had their eyes fixed expectantly on Hiccup, waiting for an explanation. Hiccup laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.

"Dad, I...” His eyes traveled across the faces of the adults, and then his dragon riders. He met Astrid’s eyes for a brief moment, and she gave him a discrete, firm nod. Guilt clawed at his chest as his eyes returned to his father’s. “I… don’t know.”

It was something of a relief to be back in his own hut after the events of the day. Stoick and Hiccup sat next to the fire pit as Hiccup told his father the lie he and the other teens had concocted. For the first half of the story Hiccup told the truth. Jack's panic after the Berserkers docked. Meeting up with Astrid in the woods. Overhearing the Berserkers' conversation. The whole time Hiccup kept his eyes on Toothless, who was resting with his head in Hiccup's lap. Toothless let out a soft, crooning noise as Hiccup recounted that particular part of the tale, perhaps why Hiccup failed to notice Stoick growl low in his throat.

"We were still trying to figure out our next step when the dragons started acting… weird. At first it was just the wild ones, and then Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, and Barf-and-Belch too. Toothless was last. We knew we couldn’t run into the village for a dragon emergency while you were meeting with the Berserkers, so we tried to chase them down and that’s when we saw it.”

"The frost giant," Stoick breathed. "Did it attack you? Were you harmed?"

"No." Hiccup swallowed thickly. It seemed like he was lying to his father a lot these days. "It didn’t seem all that interested in us, just the dragons. It disappeared with them, and then the storm hit..."

Stoick appeared gave his son a hard look. Hiccup tried to keep his expression in check.

"And what of Jack? Ye didn't think I'd notice that he wasn't with you and the other Riders?"

"Jack stayed with the children," Hiccup replied. "He helped them sneak through the forest away from the Berserkers that'd come looking for me, and kept them hidden and stopped them from being scared when the jötunn showed up. I haven't seen him since then."

Not entirely a lie. He and Jack hadn’t seen each other since Jack fled the battlefield still under the guise of a frost giant. Stoick nodded, accepting Hiccup's explanation. Even if he hadn’t, Hiccup and the others had already convinced the group of youngsters to corroborate their story. Maybe it was a result of Jack's influence, but they were more than willing to help trick the Berserkers and the Hooligans.

"When I saw the jötunn leading the dragons against you all, I saw an opportunity and went for it. Even though that monster was controlling them, I knew Toothless would never hurt me, that my friends’ dragons wouldn’t. We couldn’t let the dragons kill anyone, and defending the Berserkers seemed like a good way to convince Dagur to sign the treaty. And, well, you know the rest."

Nodding as Hiccup concluded his tale, Stoick slowly rose to his feet.

"I don't know quite what to say, Hiccup. What you did, rushing into the battle… It was very foolish, but very brave as well. You may have preserved peace between ours and the Berserker tribe."

Hiccup braced himself for the 'but.'

"But-"

Ah, there it was.

"I'm not so sure you should have. You didn’t know for sure that Toothless wouldn’t have killed you while controlled by that… that thing. Or that that monster wouldn’t have killed you itself.”

Hiccup’s hand stilled on Toothless’s head, and the nightfury crooned sadly.

“Also...”

Hiccup looked up.

“If Dagur was looking to start a fight any peace between us is tenuous at best." Here Stoick clenched his fists. "Especially since that eel was willing to kill you to get the war he wanted."

"But dad…" Hiccup placed a calming hand on Toothless's head to silence the growl that had begun rising in his throat since Stoick mentioned eels. "Isn't this for the best? There's no reason to go to war if we don't have to."

"Peace is an admirable goal, Hiccup, but not all confrontations can be avoided forever," Stoick explained. "And a man with a blood thirst like Dagur's is not a good neighbor to keep."

Hiccup saw his father's point. "At least we have a common enemy now, right? I mean, at least as far as Dagur's concerned."

"Aye. So long as the dragons and the frost giant remain the greater threat in his eyes, I believe Dagur will leave the people of Berk in peace." Stoick fixed Hiccup with a hard look. Hiccup and Toothless both. "But a lie can be maintained only for so long. You know this, I hope?"

Hiccup flinched. "Yeah, I get your point…"

With a satisfied nod, Stoick stood. Hiccup expected him to retreat to his own room to get some much-needed rest. He didn’t. Hiccup's head shot up as Stoick stopped in front of him, kneeling so that he was eye level with his son. Anxiety crawled up his throat. Had Stoick found some hole in his story that even he’d missed? Or was he going to lecture Hiccup for something else? Hiccup braced himself for the worst.

"I'm so glad you're safe."

Hiccup blinked. What had his father just said? He certainly was not expecting that…

Before Hiccup could ponder the strangeness further Stoick had wrapped his meaty arms around him, pulling Hiccup into a firm, yet gentle embrace. Unused to such displays of affection from his father, Hiccup tensed. Toothless's head shot up, momentarily irritated by the sudden loss of his pillow, but the dragon made no move to separate Hiccup from the hold.

"When I didn't see you with the other riders, there was a moment when I thought… Hiccup, I'm so sorry."

Suddenly Hiccup understood. He stared at his father in shock, realizing now that Stoick hadn’t forgotten Dagur's brutality from previous years. Hiccup had long since resigned himself to it, treating Dagur as an unpleasant but unavoidable aspect of his life he would simply have to get used to. Was his father only now realizing the extent of Dagur's cruelty? That Dagur hadn’t been playfully teasing him on any of those multiple occasions when he’d threatened to kill Hiccup?

At a loss for words, Hiccup relaxed into his father's hold, and even returned it. Toothless tilted his head to the side, crooning at the two humans. Hiccup wasn’t quite ready to say 'I forgive you,' but at the same time he was unable to muster up any bitterness towards Stoick. Maybe because he’d already set aside his anger long ago. Whatever the case, he allowed his father to hold him, to try to make up for the neglect. Maybe it was an impossible task, but Hiccup thought it mattered that he tired.

Outside the window to their hut, two pairs of eyes, one ice-blue and one both blue and lavender, watched the exchange. A small smile tugged at Jack's lips and after a moment he turned to Baby Tooth, meeting her eyes. No words were exchanged but they didn’t need words anyway. They left the family to their private moment, the only trace of their presence the delicate spirals of frost decorating the grass outside.

Chapter Text

As a spirit, Jack didn’t require near as much sleep as a human did. Even if he did he wouldn’t have been able to sleep that night. Watching the exchange between Hiccup and his father had been bittersweet. As glad as he was that Stoick and Hiccup were mending the cracks in their bond, he couldn’t help remembering three hundred years of watching similar loving displays through frost covered windows and the sharp, bitter pang of jealousy that had stabbed through his chest as a result. It was unfair, he knew. He had no reason to be ungrateful. The Riders had taken him in, given him a safe place to stay, had been good friends to him, and he still had the Guardians, his own family. Even if he wouldn’t be able to see them for a while they weren’t gone. They must have been trying to figure out how to get him back... Right?

Baby Tooth crooned, feeling comfort-Love-friendship-togetherness at him. Jack smiled down at her and stroked her silver feather consolingly.

"Sorry Baby Tooth, just thinking about... Well, you know," he said as he adjusted his position to get more comfortable on the branch he was currently perched on. One knee was bent, foot resting on the cold wood while the other leg dangled freely in the air. Baby Tooth sat on his bent knee, watching him with a gentle expression. "You must miss Tooth a lot, huh?"

((Of course, I think about Mama all the time,)) Baby Tooth admitted. ((But I'd still rather be here with you.))

Jack smiled. As selfish as it was, it was nice to be somebody's first choice. Tipping his head back, he gazed at the moon.

"If they could get us back, they'd probably have done it by now, right? You don't think that they..."

Letting out a startled squeak, Baby Tooth shot into the air and hovered directly in front of Jack's face.

((Of course not! There's no way they'd have lost to that.. To that... Steaming pile of dragon poop!)) Jack chuckled at Baby Tooth's creative insult. ((They're probably just trying to figure out when we are! Besides, I thought you liked it here?))

"I do like it here, I just... I miss Jamie and Soph, ya know?"

Not just the kids. He missed Toothiana just as much as Baby Tooth did, as well as North with his big belly laughs and spontaneous hugs, and Sandy, alien voice and all, and even Bunny in all of his tough, gruff, crotchety glory. Being seen by everybody was... Wonderful. Beyond his wildest dreams. That did nothing to soothe the ache in his chest when he thought of the people he’d left behind.

((I know. I miss them to.))

Baby Tooth perched on Jack's shoulder, curling up against his neck to stargaze with him. They stayed like that for several minutes before she suddenly perked up again, pointing at something distant in the sky.

((Oh Jackie! Look over there!))

"Where?" Jack asked, perking up as well. He strained his eyes but couldn’t see what Baby Tooth was pointing at.

((Over there, near Manny.))

Jack rose, Baby Tooth taking to the air as he stepped towards the end of the branch, trying to see what she was seeing. Still, he saw nothing but the moon and stars over the snow-capped mountains of Berk. Then, all of the sudden, he caught a flash of movement. It was a tiny speck of silvery-blue light, so small and distant it could be taken for a shooting star. Eyes widening, Jack watched the tiny thing flit through the sky before disappearing behind the mountain.

A Moonbeam. Capital 'M.' Jack could hardly believe his eyes. He’d seen some of the Man in the Moon's messengers before, back in his own time, but it was always from afar. When he’d first become a spirit they were numerous, but had dwindled in number over the years. According to the elder guardians, Tsar Lunanoff relied on them less and less as the Guardians grew in power, explaining their diminished numbers. Jack hadn’t expected to find one in Viking times though. The Man in the Moon was probably still a child right now, and shouldn’t have been able to work most of the more complicated equipment on his ship, so how did a Moonbeam spirit manage to make the journey down to Earth?

Jack and Baby Tooth exchanged a look.

"Wanna chase it?"

Smiling, Baby Tooth's wings hummed to life.

"Yeah, me too."

The immortals spent all night playfully chasing the Moonbeam, but were never able to catch it. Not that it mattered; the game of chase lifted their spirits and by the time the sun rose over the horizon both were giggling like excited children.

Slipping into the village without being noticed was something they had become well practiced at. Everybody was so busy every day, unless they heard roars or smelled smoke it was rare for the people of Berk to look skyward. Dropping down behind Hiccup's hut, Jack made his way downhill into the village, Baby Tooth already hidden away in his purse. Glancing around, he hoped to find Torborg and the other children and distract them from their chores for a little while. With all of the snow on the ground, he bet he could get a good snowball war going. Unfortunately, he never got the chance.

Jack would never admit he let out a startled yelp as something suddenly snagged him by the back of his tunic and hoisted him up in the air.

"Lad, there ye are!" Gobber said as he set the struggling sprite back on his feet. "Ah've been lookin' all over fer ya!"

"Haven't been looking that hard then," Jack said as he took a small step away from the blacksmith and adjusted his tunic. Had Gobber used his hook to grab him? Jack hoped not. Magnus's mother would kill him. "What's up?"

"Ah don' know if ye heard what went down yesterday-" Gobber started, only to be immediately cut off by Jack.

"Oh yeah, you mean the peace treaty thing, right? I heard that got... Complicated."

"Ye don' know the half of it," Gobber replied, oblivious to the slight smirk that tugged at the corner of Jack's lips for just a moment. "Apparently, the Berserkers wanted to start a war. The only reason they didn' was because of a dragon attack... lead by a frost giant!"

Jack looked convincingly surprised.

"What? Really? Too bad I missed it!" He was going to feel a little bad about laughing at Gobber's expense later. "But, why are you telling me? Should you even be talking to me about it?"

"Eh, I figger Hiccup'll prolly tell ye all about it later," Gobber replied with a casual shrug. "And tha's not really why ah wanted to talk to ye anyway. See, with all the excitement yesterday, I forgot to tell ye, Gothi wanted ye to come up to 'er hut!"

Twirling his staff in his hands, Jack pretended to be unconcerned, though he had to wonder what the village's shaman or medicine woman or whatever it was they called her could possibly want him for. Maybe she’d figured something out?

"Really? You know what for?"

"Ah couldn't tell ye. You'll hafta go see 'er an' find out yourself. If she gets mad at ye for bein' late jes' tell 'er it was my fault for forgettin' to tell ye. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a gassy gronkle that needs mah attention. See, she got into the shop yesterday an' ate some metal scraps lyin' around, an' now she's shooting lava right outta her-"

"Ah ah ah, I don't need to hear the details!" Jack exclaimed with a shudder. "I'm gonna go see Gothi now. Good luck with your... Gronkle... Situation."

And with that, Jack was gone, racing through the village to get to Gothi's hut, not because he was in any particular hurry to see the old woman, but because he didn’t want to give Gobber a chance to finish his story.

In a short amount of time the village square had become a bustle of activity. Adults hefted baskets and barrels or hauled carts loaded with weapons, vegetables, fur, fish, and hay up and down the steep slopes, dragons flitted from building to building, most of them wild visitors but a few tamed dragons assisting with the work load, and children scurried underfoot busy with their own chores, or attempting to avoid them.

Jack smirked before he took off running full speed towards through the village. He received a few surprised shouts from the adults as he weaved through the crowd, ducking under outstretched arms and leaping over carts, weaving fluidly between dragons and Vikings and, at one point, running along the posts of Silent Sven's fence to get across a roadblock of sheep. Not once did he bump into anyone, not even with his staff. A few passers by paused in their routine to watch with admiration as Jack traversed the village like an obstacle course, spurring Jack to move faster. Although he liked showing off to kids, being openly gawked at by adults felt a little odd to him.

Gothi was outside when Jack arrived at the top of the hill where her hut was perched, though it didn’t appear she was waiting for him. Two terrible terrors were perched on the fence surrounding her porch and she was sitting on a high stool, a wooden bowl in hand. Her staff rested against the side of her hut while she stirred the contents of the bowl.

Although Jack's steps were light as air – literally – he still saw Gothi's eyes flick towards him as he neared her hut. Grinning a bit sheepishly, he offered her a friendly wave, hoping she wouldn’t hold a grudge for taking so long to come see her.

"Hey Gothi!" Her eyes remained on her bowl, still stirring it slowly. "Sorry for taking so long. Gobber just told me. I guess he got pretty distracted yester-"

He was cut off by Gothi abruptly raising a finger for him to wait. Setting aside the spoon, she raised her bowl to lips and chugged the green slop inside down. Okay, so that was breakfast, not medicine or a potion then. Within seconds the bowl was empty. Gothi smacked her lips together and wiped them with the back of her hand before setting the bowl aside and reaching for her staff to write in the snow.

((You're late. I expected you two days ago.))

"I know, I know!" Jack said, putting his hands up in defense. "Like I said, Gobber just told me. Stuff happened. We got distracted."

Hopping off of her stool, Gothi swung open the door to her hut and used her staff to gesture for Jack to enter. He did, swallowing nervously. Just what was he in for?

Gothi's hut looked pretty much the same as it had the last time Jack had been there, full to the brim with baskets of herbs, charms made of bone or wood or stone and decorated with runes scattered almost everywhere, and numerous tools, some with purposes Jack could only guess at, hung from the walls. The fire pit in the center of her home was full of blackened, burnt logs and ash, but had a nice, strangely herbal smell.

"So, er, nice place you got."

Ignoring his halfhearted attempt at being polite, Gothi started dragging the end of her staff through one of her boxes of sand. Curiously, he peered over her shoulder to watch her write.

"Let- that- poor- creature- out- of- your- wait, what?"

Inside the purse at his hip Baby Tooth shifted, no less surprised than Jack but more confused. Gothi fixed Jack with a knowing look as she pointed at the now squirming pouch at his his side. With a resigned sigh Jack relented. He pulled open the drawstring on his pouch. Reluctantly at first, Baby Tooth poked her head out, almost diving back in when she saw Gothi's wide eyes staring down at her. Instead of looking surprised or angry, however, the medicine woman smiled warmly at the frost fairy.

Tentatively, Baby Tooth crawled out of her hiding place in Jack's purse. Now she could read the writing in the sand: ((Let that poor creature out of your purse before it suffocates.))

((I am not an it!))Baby Tooth squeaked indignantly. Gently Jack cupped his hand around her and guided her towards his shoulder, though she refused to perch.

"You, ah, knew about her?" he asked, resisting the urge to back towards the door. Gothi might not have looked all that threatening, but Jack couldn’t ignore the slight hum of magic inside her hut. She started writing in the sand again.

((Lad, I'm old. Not deaf. You really think I didn't notice those wings buzzing last time you came into my hut?))

Jack's eyes moved from the writing in the sand to Baby Tooth. Looking a bit self conscious she finally settled on his shoulder, her wings falling silent. ((Whoops.))

"Well, up until now, yeah." Jack shrugged. "So, what? You tell the chief and we get chased out with pitchforks and torches?"

Gothi fixed him with a disapproving look before smacking him over the head with her dragon-tooth staff.

"Ow!"

Ignoring the spirit now nursing his head, Gothi returned to her sandbox and started scribbling again.

((Don't be daft. What cause do I have to do such a thing? No, I have no intention of speaking of this to anyone.))

"You don't speak of anything to anyone," Jack pointed out, throwing his hands up in a disarming gesture as Gothi raised her staff to strike him again. "So what do you want then?"

Gothi smoothed out the sand with her foot before she started writing again. Jack watched, expression going from pensive, to confused, to shocked as Gothi laid out her proposal for him.

"You want me to be your apprentice?" he asked, one eyebrow raised incredulously. "But I thought... Aren't guys not supposed to do magic?"

Rolling her eyes, Gothi wrote, ((And that's stopped you before?))

"...Point taken."

((Tell me, boy, how long did you plan on staying here?))

Twirling his staff in his hands, Jack replied, "I'unno. Until I figure out how to get back home, I guess."

((And where might that be? Álfheimr?)) At Jack's shocked expression she added, ((Don't give me that look. Do you really think a völva wouldn't recognize a magical entity when she sees one?))

Jack didn’t want to admit he had no idea what she was talking about, so he just shrugged.

((So you don't know how long you'll be here. You've been living in our village for several months now, don't you think it's time you started contributing?)) As Jack opened his mouth to argue she held up her hand and wrote one more sentence. ((I mean more than occasionally watching the children. Becoming a real member of our tribe.))

For just a moment, Jack felt his heart stop. A member of their tribe? Him? He was a spirit and they were humans. He had seen no issue with spending time with Hiccup and the other members of the dragon training academy and their dragons, but they were younger, not quite children but not quite adults either. Was it even allowed? Spirits and humans living together?

"Uh, yeah, okay." Baby Tooth gave Jack an odd look, tweeting nervously. "Why not? Uh, but what about the rest of the village? Won't they have a problem with your apprentice being a boy?"

Gothi had to rub out her writing again before she answered, ((They might, if they thought you were training as a seiðmaðr with me, but that’s not what you’re here for. I've already spoken with Chief Stoick and he's agreed that it's time for me to take an apprentice healer.))

A healer? Okay, Jack thought he could do that. Maybe it would even be useful for Hiccup and Toothless on one of their adventures. Still, there was a nagging thought in the back of his mind he couldn’t let go of.

"Are you sure you want me to be your apprentice though? Why not someone who's actually from here?"

((Why not you?))

"Aside from the whole 'not human' thing? I'm not really exactly apprentice material. I'm more... snowballs and fun times."

Baby Tooth shifted, tugging on his tunic to get his attention.

((Boy, I've been on this island longer than anyone else and I've dealt with every last Viking at their best and worst. Including Stoick the Vast when he was a boy. I think I can handle a few hours daily with an overexcited elf.))

"Hey!"

((Besides, I need someone who won't bite their tongue every time I look in their direction. And, if I'm not mistaken, you need a little help passing yourself off as human.))

"I think I'm doing alright."

Gothi scowled. Grunting, she pointed the end of her staff down at Jack's feet. His bare feet.

"...Okay, what's your point?"

Shaking her head, Gothi erased her writing once more. For a brief moment Jack considered backing out of the hut while she was preoccupied. Somehow he got the feeling she would notice him trying to flee.

((Boy, if you're going to live among us, you can't spend all of your time playing around. We survive because everybody in the tribe contributes.))

"But I don't live in the village, I live in the woods."

Still, Jack had to admit she had a point. For months now he’d been eating their food and the clothes he was wearing had been gifted to him by Magnus's mother, who had asked for nothing as payment. He might not have needed as much to survive as a human did, but the Hooligans couldn’t afford to waste a thing.

"But.. I guess I could give this a try. Gotta say, I've never been anyone's apprentice before. At least, I don't think I have."

A sharp tweet in his ear caught his attention. Baby Tooth shot Gothi an anxious look before turning to Jack.

((Are you sure about this Jackie? We still don't know if we can trust these people.))

"Sure, why not?" he replied, flashing one of his snowy grins. "Could be fun."

Hiccup groaned. Just what was he in for?

"Guys, do you have to do this every day?" he asked, watching the twins play a game of tug-of-war with an axe while Snotlout attempted to wrestle Hookfang's tail into submission. The result was the head of the axe flying off, sending Tuffnut tumbling down and nearly losing his head when the axe head landed not an inch from his face, while Hookfang once again ignited and sent Snotlout screaming as he sprinted towards the nearest water trough. Rolling his eyes, Hiccup turned to Toothless and Wodensfang, the smaller of the two perched on the back of the larger. "It's like watching kids. Only the kids are more mature."

The dragons goff goff goffed while Hiccup just groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was supposed to be a simple training exercise. Why did nothing ever go smoothly? At least Astrid and Fishlegs were taking their training seriously, even if Fishlegs' aim could use a little work.

"You're throwing too hard," Astrid said, offering Fishlegs a gentle correction. "Take a little more time to aim and don't just chuck the axe as hard as you can. Make sure your arm is parallel to the ground when you let go, alright?"

Fishlegs nodded meekly as Astrid handed him another throwing axe. Meatlug grunted something encouraging in Dragonese as he threw it and, yet again, missed his target. To his credit, however, the axe at least made it within a foot of the wooden barrel instead of burying itself into the arena wall like the previous half-dozen.

"Well, that's better than last time," Astrid said as Fishlegs went to retrieve the axe. "Hiccup, you wanna give axe-throwing a try?"

"Yeah, I'll pass. I don't think anyone needs a repeat of the last Thawfest games."

"Hey, you're the one who said you wanted to get stronger," Astrid pointed out. "Okay, so that's a 'no' on axe throwing. How 'bout another round of sword-fighting lessons? "

Self-consciousness creeping in, Hiccup threw a glance at the other dragon riders. It was one thing letting Hjordis watch him get beat by Astrid during their lessons, it was another thing altogether to let the other riders see him. Especially Snotlout, who wasted no opportunity to remind him how small and weak he was.

Sensing his hesitation, Astrid assured him, "Don't worry about those guys. If Snotlout says anything I'll feed him his boots."

"Thanks, but the boot feeding won't be necessary." Hiccup watched as Fishlegs resumed throwing his axes, a bright smile on his face as his next throw made it to its target. It struck the outer ring, far from the bull's eye, but it was a vast improvement from his previous throws. "To be honest, I'd rather wait until I finish making my sword before I let you bruise my ribs again."

"Oh, I forgot you were working on that," Astrid said. A chirp drew her attention for a moment and she reached out to give Wodensfang a tickle on his chin, earning a contented purr from the blue terrible terror. Toothless looked slightly less than pleased as Wodensfang started kneading his claws out of habit. "How close are you to being finished?"

"Pretty close," Hiccup admitted. "I just need to attach the pommel and stitch the leather wrap. I would have been finished a few days ago but I got distracted with everything that was happening."

Astrid nodded and stopped petting Wodensfang, much to Toothless's relief. "Why don't I take over for today while you go work on that?" she suggested. Hiccup was tempted to just say 'yes.' He was really tempted. But...

"You sure you're okay with that?"

"It's not like you're getting a whole lot of time to yourself between the Dragon Riding Academy and sword lessons. Don't worry, I'll whip these mutton-heads into shape for you."

"Well, if you insist!" Already Hiccup was climbing into Toothless's saddle. Wodensfang hummed and started climbing towards Hiccup. "Let's meet up right before sunset to do some aerial maneuvers, alright?"

"Sounds like a plan. Try not to set yourself on fire, got it?"

"I know, I know," Hiccup said as he allowed Wodensfang to settle on his shoulders. His prosthetic clicked into place and with a rush of air he and Toothless were shooting out of the academy gate.

The smell of sulfur and smoke and several foul things Hiccup struggled to name assaulted him as he approached the smithy. Toothless cringed and refused to enter, so Hiccup left him and Wodensfang, outside as he went to investigate the source of the smell. He had not gotten inside before he heard a resounding crash along with several intelligible swears. Thinking fast, he jumped out from in front of the door barely in time to avoid being barreled into by a frantic looking gronkle and the disheveled Viking chasing after it.

"Mildred, come back! What about your enema?"

"Now there's an image I could do without." At the sound of Hiccup's voice Gobber spun on his peg leg, not surprised that he’d overlooked Hiccup in his haste.

"Hiccup! Good ta see ya at the forge! Is dragon trainin' already over fer the day?"

"No, Astrid's taking over for me today," Hiccup explained as he entered the smithy, Gobber following close behind him. "So I could finish that project I was working on."

"Ah, yer sword. Saw that piece lyin' around. Nice handiwork," Gobber said as he switched out his hook hand for a large hammer. "Who's it for? One of the young'uns?"

Hiccup could see why he might think that, due to the blade's length and weight, but although he could rationalize it in his head Gobber's assumption still stung a little. "No, ah, no. It's for me."

Gobber paused for just a moment before clicking his hammer-arm into place. "Whoops."

Offering Gobber a casual shrug, Hiccup started gathering his tools and the pieces of his sword. "I mean, I gotta make it fair for the other guys, right? Most of our enemies already run screaming at the sight of me."

"Screamin' or laughin?'"

"Either-or."

"Well, wha'ever works."

Hiccup and Gobber fell into a natural rhythm as they worked, exchanging tools as needed, swapping places at the forge, and trading barbs with no real venom. Eventually the smell of whatever it was Mildred the Gronkle had passed dissipated and Wodensfang slipped into the smithy and made himself comfortable curled up next to the forge where he could soak up the heat from the flames while Toothless poked his head over the stall to watch Hiccup work. Time flew by and before Hiccup knew it the sun was beginning to set.

"I have to go meet up with the other Riders now. I'll be over early tomorrow to put the finishing touches on my sword," Hiccup announced as he slung his leather apron onto the hook by the door and went to collect Wodensfang.

"Ah'm lookin' forward to it. It was nice havin' an extra set of hands around the forge fer a change." Gobber was again in the process of swapping out his hand, this time replacing the hammer-attachment with a brush. "Mebbe ah should follow Gothi's example an' take an apprentice."

So Gothi had finally found an apprentice? Hiccup wondered whether he should congratulate the lucky Viking or feel sorry for them.

With Wodensfang perched on his shoulder Hiccup stepped outside of the forge and almost immediately smacked into another teen.

"Hic!"

"Jack!"

Wodensfang immediately perked up, chirping ((Missed-you-Icicle-happy-yay!)) in excitement at the sight of Jack while Toothless bounded to Hiccup's side.

"What are you doing here?" Hiccup asked as Wodensfang made the short jump from his shoulder to Jack's. "I thought you'd be at the Academy by now."

"Actually, I was about to head over there," Jack replied. He reached to his belt, pulling open the drawstring to his purse. Hiccup noticed the slight movement inside as Baby Tooth held up a small green berry which Jack plucked from her grip with his thumb and forefinger. "I was just gonna drop this off for Gothi. Apparently Gobber needs it for... Actually, you probably don't wanna know."

"I am sure I do not," Hiccup confirmed. "You were with Gothi?"

"Yeah, pretty much all day. Apparently your dad decided it was about time I got a job and, well, Gothi offered. She's training me to be a healer."

"What, really?" Hiccup asked incredulously. "I'm sorry, I'll try to get you out of it. I'll just tell my dad that you're a member of the Academy and-"

"Nah, don't worry about it," Jack said with a shrug. "I only have to go to her hut four days a week, and on the last day it's a half day. I still have plenty of time to hang out with you guys, and I figured it might be kind of fun to see what goes on in there."

As he said that he gave Toothless a friendly pat on the head and smiled. The nightfury crooned before pressing his muzzle close to Jack's hip, where his leather purse rested.

"I do have one complaint though."

Hiccup raised a brow. "Only the one?"

Rolling his eyes, Jack pointed down. Towards his feet. Hiccup's eyes followed the finger and nearly popped out of his skull when he saw what Jack was pointing at.

"Dear Odin, she got you to wear boots!" Hiccup raised his eyes to the clouds, holding up a hand to shield them from the sun.

Although he knew he was going to regret asking, Jack did anyway. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for flying boars."

Jack frowned and gave Hiccup a light kick. With his boot covered foot. Stupid boot. Hiccup just laughed.

"Oh no, not the boots! Have mercy!"

"I'm going to shove snow down the back of your vest." A slight pause. "Well, I'd probably do that anyway, but now it's personal."

"I'll be sure to watch my back." Placing his hand on Toothless's harness Hiccup prepared to mount. "We were about to meet up with the others to practice aerial maneuvers. You wanna come?"

"Yeah, lemme just give Gobber his... thing, and I'll be right there."

"Try not to suffocate in there!"

Jack shook his head and laughed as he slipped inside the smithy. The laughter came to an abrupt halt as he smelled the lingering traces of Mildred's passing and he burst out into a fierce coughing fit. Hiccup just shrugged, earning a sideways look from Toothless.

"Hey, I warned him."

Weeks passed. Despite his initial doubts about the whole thing Hiccup came to see Jack's apprenticeship with Gothi as a blessing in disguise. Although training under Berk's resident völva took a lot of Jack's time they still had their evening flights and nightly gatherings in the Great Hall, and in the time that they were apart Hiccup found he could more easily focus on dragon training classes and swordsmanship lessons. A part of him began to hope that if enough time passed then those unwelcome feelings he had developed towards Jack would simply... go away.

But then he would see Jack again after hours or occasionally days spent apart and his stomach would clench and his face would grow warm and that small hope flickered and died.

Toothless was no help. At every opportunity that presented itself the nightfury would attempt to push the two of them together. Often literally. One day Toothless planted himself on the ground in the arena and refused to take off until after Jack had arrived. Another Hiccup woke up to find Toothless missing. The errant nightfury was discovered at Gothi's hut being spoiled by Jack who, instead of sending Toothless back to Hiccup, had fed him some dried fish and let him sit in on his session that day. Hiccup did his best to explain to Toothless without actually explaining anything why he had to stop, but Toothless never seemed to get it. Or maybe he did and just chose to ignore Hiccup. Whatever the case it was driving Hiccup crazy and he needed a break from it, at least for a little while.

So when Stoick asked Hiccup to gather up the Riders of Berk and lead them on a search and rescue mission for a missing fishing vessel, Hiccup jumped on it.

"Yes, absolutely, as soon as possible."

Stoick stared at his son blankly. Hiccup went over his words in his head, and then tried again.

"I mean, we should head out as soon as possible so that nothing happens to the missing people."

Stoick seemed to accept that response, although Hiccup could still see lingering traces of confusion on his face.

"Right. I'm going to get the others now. Right now. Uh, bye."

"Er, right. The fishing ship was last seen heading south. Try not to be too long. Bucket and Mulch said there's a storm brewing on the sea in that direction."

"They ditched us! I can't believe they ditched us!"

Baby Tooth tweeted angrily along with Jack, her anger-irritation-indigence-dissappointment mixing with his. Gothi occasionally looked up from her fire to observe the two of them pacing her hut angrily but remained for the most part focused on her reading.

"I mean, sure, I'm not a dragon rider, but I still could have helped! What, did they think I wouldn't notice they'd vanished from the island?"

Finally fed up with his complaining, Gothi took up her staff and started writing in one of her sandboxes.

((And just what would you do? Ride along with one of the dragon riders while they conduct the search?))

"I can fly."

((And what happens when the men on the fishing vessel waiting for a rescue look to the sky and see you flitting about up there?))

"I can get out of sight before they notice me. Or on one of the dragons." Gothi rolled her eyes. "What?"

((Lad, you're not a dragon rider. You need to accept that you're not going to get to go on all of their adventures. Would you get the vial of glacial water from the top shelf for me?))

"Huh?" Jack's eyes followed the direction of Gothi's staff as she raised it from the sandbox to gesture towards a very tall cabinet at the back of her hut. "Oh, sure."

The wind came to life inside of Gothi's hut as Jack floated up to the highest shelf. He kept talking even as he and Baby Tooth rummaged through the numerous vials searching for the glacier water.

"It's not like I expected them to take me everywhere," he admitted with a slight note of bitterness in his voice, "but they could've at least let me know they were leaving before I waited for over an hour for them at the academy." Baby Tooth tweeted suddenly and pushed a vial twice as large as herself towards Jack. Snatching the bottle up, Jack turned to face Gothi. "Uh, is this the bottle you're looking for?"

Gothi nodded.

"Do you have any more bottles?"

She shook her head.

"Well then, you're all out."

Jack set down on the ground again, Baby Tooth landing on his shoulder soon after. Gothi hung her head for a moment before she started moving her staff again, scratching out a single short sentence.

((That's not good.))

"Why not?" Jack asked, padding over towards the old woman. "What's so important about that water?"

((That happened to be pure glacial water. It has special healing properties, but unfortunately is very difficult to come across. I received that bottle in trade from Johann years ago.))

Healing properties? Jack started to get worried.

"Is someone hurt?"

((Dagmar's apparently been taken by sudden fierce chills and says the air is like cobwebs in her lungs. I fear lung disease is setting in and wanted to make a philter for her before it became untreatable. Without the spring water we will have to settle for a less certain remedy.))

Dagmar. That was Magnus's mother. Unthinking Jack reached up to adjust the collar of his tunic, remembering the day Dagmar had shoved the garment into his hands. She’d accepted no argument or protest and had continued trying to brush the frost from his clothing until her infant started crying for attention. Jack could do this one little thing for her.

"Why don't I just go get some more pure glacial water?" Jack suggested. "I can fly there fast enough and the cold doesn't bother me."

((Absolutely not.))

Jack waited for an explanation, but Gothi refused to elaborate, pushing herself off of her stool and starting for the door. When Jack used his staff to block her path she fixed him with a glare fierce enough to have Pitch shrinking away in fear.

"Why not?"

Angrily Gothi clacked the end of her staff against the floor before turning back to her sandbox and writing, ((Because it's far too dangerous for a lone child, that's why!))

Jack bristled.

"I can promise you, I've been through way worse situations than whatever you're talking about." Baby Tooth's wings hummed to life and she got well out of the way before Gothi cracked the end of her staff over Jack's head. "Ow!"

Still glaring, Gothi thrust her arm forward, showing off the scarred tissue on the underside. Jack had caught sight of that mark on her arm before but had never thought to ask about it. It suddenly hit Jack; Gothi was truly frightened. It was a strange thought. It was no secret that most of the village was intimidated by her. Even Mildew knew better than to show her disrespect. She was the wise old woman of the village, and whatever had left that mark on her arm made her feel like a frightened child again.

Just the slightest bit, Jack's expression softened.

"Look, Dagmar needs the water, and I can get it. I've fought Outcasts, angry whispering deaths-"

((One angry whispering death,)) Baby Tooth corrected, unheard by Gothi.

"-walking shadows, and literal Nightmares. I think I can handle whatever's guarding the glacial water."

Gothi seemed to be giving Jack's argument some thought. After a pregnant pause she wrote her response.

((Have you ever fought a snow wraith?))

Laughing, Jack replied, "No, but how bad could it be? Snow spirit! Snow wraith! That's right up my alley!"

After puzzling over Jack's turn of phrase for a moment Gothi replied, ((It's not a spirit, or at least I don't believe it is. It's a dragon, larger and fiercer than anything you'll find on Berk.))

"And I can talk to dragons! I can do this!"

Gothi considered his words for a moment.

"If you don't tell me how to find this place I'll just figure it out on my own and go anyway," Jack pointed out. Baby Tooth met Gothi's eyes and nodded. Finally, with a relenting sigh, Gothi started writing again.

((You'll find the water on Glacier Island...))

It took about twelve hours of searching for something to go wrong and force the Riders of Berk to turn back. Most of the riders, anyway. Although it was a relief to see Berk's shore after spending most of the day in the cold air, Astrid couldn’t help harboring a bit of frustration towards Snotlout for pulling yet another stunt and dividing the party.

"Let's go find Chief Stoick and report in before we do anything else," Astrid suggested as they drew closer to the island. She received murmurs of agreement from the others, though in the twins' case it was more due to the fact that hey hadn’t really been paying attention. Still, the zippleback riders followed as she flew over the village.

They found Stoick hauling a cart full of lumber up a steep slope, Gobber pushing the cart from behind. It was Gobber who noticed their presence first, pointing his hook to the sky and calling out a greeting as they landed.

"I'm glad you're back," Stoick said as he lowered the cart, bracing it with his foot to keep it from rolling over Gobber. "The boat has returned."

"Could've told us that before we left," Tuffnut mumbled, voice low. Not quite low enough.

"Excuse me?" the chief growled, glowering at the Thorston twins and causing Tuffnut to shrink back. Ruffnut shot her brother a smug smirk.

"Um, nothing, Chief. That was her!"

Ruffnut's smirk fell and she fixed her brother with a glare. "Hey!"

With an aggravated sigh, Stoick decided he was better off ignoring the two of them. Turning to Astrid he asked, "Where is Hiccup?"

"He had to double back to get Snotlout."

Scoffing as he dismounted his dragon, Tuffnut added, "I said leave him."

Stoick shot the boy another glare.

"Uh, her again!" Tuffnut jabbed his thumb towards Ruffnut as she also dismounted Barf-and-Belch. "I don't know what her deal is."

Ruffnut retaliated by punching him in the arm.

Before a brawl could break out between them, Gobber approached Stoick, looking altogether unconcerned. "Nothin' ta worry about, Stoick! Ye know how hard it is ta get him off tha' dragon!"

He did, but even so Stoick couldn’t help being worried. Between wild dragon attacks, Outcasts trying to kidnap him, and frost giants, Hiccup faced constant danger. A part of him was tempted to get Thornado and mount his own search for his son.

Astrid, meanwhile, was addressing the other riders. "I'm going to go find Jack and let him know we're back. Don't go too far in case we need to head out again."

Before she and Stormfly could take off, Stoick told her, "Lad should be done with his apprenticeship for today. You'll likely find him wandering the village."

Now that he thought about it, Stoick realized he hadn’t actually seen the white-haired youth all day, but he assumed that in lieu of spending time with the dragon riders he would have elected to spend his time with the village children and wasn’t terribly concerned with Jack's apparent absence.

After all, the boy didn’t have a dragon of his own. Not one he could ride, in any case. He could rest assured that Jack was still on Berk, at least.

Glacier Island, as it turned out, was not an actual island at all but a massive formation of ice floating far to the north. So far that Jack flew straight past Outcast Island and made it near to the edge of the archipelago before he found it. Thankfully the Wind was able to help him locate it. Also thankfully, the island was uninhabited by humans, so there was no one to complain about the fact that he’d left his boots behind at Gothi’s hut.

A massive blizzard was raging when he approached but with a wave of his staff Jack calmed the violent storm and turned the snow's descent from an onslaught of stabbing ice to a gentle dance of whirling flakes.

"This is... nice. We should build a summer home here," Jack joked as Baby Tooth emerged from the satchel at his waist. Gothi had given it to him, along with several empty vials with the Berk crest on them. Jack figured if he was going to get the glacial water for Dagmar he should also get some stores just in case of future emergencies. Also inside the satchel was a map drawn for him by the völva which he was now pulling out to examine.

"Now let's see... Gothi said there should be an unfrozen lake somewhere on this island, inside of an ice cave."

((If it's really a freshwater spring in this place, there must be magic involved,)) Baby Tooth mused aloud. Jack nodded in agreement.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and make some new friends," he suggested. Baby Tooth looked unsure. "Or maybe we'll get eaten by a snow wraith. Who knows?"

((That's not funny.))

"I know, I know, just trying to keep it fun." Jack rolled up the map and placed it inside his satchel. "Well, let's get going. The sooner we find the lake the sooner we can help Maggie's mom."

Baby Tooth nodded in agreement and both spirits took to the air, searching for some sign of a cave. Except for the two of them the island was completely still, serene even. Still, neither could shake the feeling they were being watched.

Thunder rolled over the skies of Berk, matching Stoick's stormy mood. Two days since his son and nephew had gone missing. Two days since Jack was also discovered missing. This did not bode well.

Unwilling to wait any longer, he gathered Gobber as well as the members of the Academy in front of his hut, Thornado already saddled up.

"Well, they've been gone for days."

"They probably set down to wait out the storm," Astrid tried to assure him, though even she looked apprehensive. Before Stoick could suggest a worst case scenario Fishlegs perked up, pointing at the overcast sky.

"I see something!" he announced, somewhere between excited and scared.

Casting their eyes skyward everyone gathered saw what Fishlegs was pointing at; a ball of orange flame shooting through the clouds and right at their island. As the fireball drew nearer it began to take on a more distinct shape and soon they could see it was not a fireball at all, but a dragon coated from head to tail with flame. A monstrous nightmare.

"It's Hookfang!" Astrid cried excitedly before realizing her relief had come a moment too soon.

Hookfang landed roughly, crashing into the stone and exhaling thick clouds of black smoke. He looked exhausted and scared, head whirling around in every direction as he hissed and growled, and his saddle was empty. Stoick approached the frightened dragon, holding his hand out to Hookfang in an attempt to placate him. Hookfang seemed to relax at the sight if a friendly face and he purred as he pressed his snout against the chief's outstretched palm.

Stepping forward, Fishlegs gave voice to the thought shared by everyone, "If Hookfang is here, where is Snotlout?"

"And where are Hiccup and Toothless?" Astrid added. At her side Wodensfang hummed sadly, his tail wrapping around her boot as he sought comfort. Where were Jack and Baby Tooth for that matter? Had they heard about the search and rescue mission and attempted to follow the dragon riders? Astrid kicked herself for not thinking to tell him before they left.

Fortunately, Stoick was already prepared to take action.

"Get your dragons ready," he ordered. "We're heading out."

Searching by air quickly revealed the location of the cave, but there was no sign of a snow wraith. Jack wondered whether or not he should be concerned by that. The already frigid temperatures plummeted as the sun set and Jack thanked the moon that he was an ice spirit. The best part about freezing to death, he decided, was that he couldn’t freeze again.

It was pitch black beneath the ice. Raising his staff, Jack lit their way with his magic. A soft blue glow shone from the ice coating it and acted as a torch for them to see by. Baby Tooth trilled nervously.

((Are you sure that's a good idea? If there's a snow wraith in here the light could give us away.))

"I think me bumping into everything and tripping all over the place would give us away too," Jack pointed out. "At least this way we'll be able to see the snow wraith coming too."

Conceding to his point, Baby Tooth perched on Jack's shoulder. She remembered what Gothi had said about the noise from her wings and had no intention of letting the snow wraith find her the same way.

Jack moved through the cavern swiftly but silently, moving like water through a stream. Gradually the tunnel widened enough to let him go airborne, though Baby Tooth remained where she was on his shoulder. Still there was no sign of the ferocious dragon who had scarred Gothi's arm and for a moment Jack allowed himself to imagine that this would be easy.

That was when he discovered the split in the tunnel.

"...You go left I go right?" he suggested. Baby Tooth shook her head.

((And what if the tunnels split again? Or one of us finds the snow wraith while we're separated? I don't wanna get eaten by a dragon!))

"I don't think you have anything to worry about; you're way, way, waaaay too fierce and mighty for them to handle!"

((...Okay, that’s true,)) she tweeted. ((But what about you?))

"Not enough meat.”

((They could still use a chew toy.))

"Ouch."

They were laughing, but Jack could feel his smaller-half's fear. He could understand it. Although they were surrounded by their own element, neither spirit was comfortable being cut off from the open air for very long, and with the threat of an unfriendly dragon looming ahead the darkened cave seemed that much more oppressive.

Jack leaned his staff against the wall and opened his satchel.

"Let's check the map again. Maybe Gothi left some instructions on how to get through the cave."

Kneeling down, Jack placed the map on the icy ground in front of him, pressing the corners flat as he could to keep the parchment from rolling up on him. He held his staff above the map, searching for any scribbled notes about the cave or the spring. Mostly he found scribbles talking about the snow wraith, how terrifying it was, but little actual information on it.

Still, Jack wasn’t about to give up. He peeled the map up from the ice and flipped it over, pleased to find more notes scribbled on the back. The glow illuminating the cave seemed to grow as a grin spread across his face.

"Okay, here we go.." he muttered to himself. Baby Tooth tweeted wordlessly, surprise evident and she couldn’t resist letting her wings buzz for just a moment.

Jack didn’t give her reaction much mind as he moved his staff over the notes. Baby Tooth tugged at his tunic.

"Okay there are notes on the water's properties – thanks Gothi, needed more of those – but how do we find it?" Baby Tooth tugged on his tunic again, this time a little harder. "What's up, Baby Tooth?"

((We have company.))

Jack's reaction was instantaneous. Forgetting the map, Jack whirled on the spot, aiming his glowing staff at the creature he found before him. His light almost overwhelmed the newcomer, a being of light itself. Heart racing and eyes bulging, Jack lowered his staff.

For the first time in over two hundred years, Jack found himself face to face with a Moonbeam.

The being of light wavered and glowed against the walls of the icy cavern. Every so often it bounced from one reflective surface to the next, never far from the two ice spirits. Jack watched, enthralled, as the spirit danced around them, eventually breaking out into laughter.

"Are you the same one from last night?" Jack wondered aloud, reaching for the spirit when it came close and chuckling as it jumped just outside of his reach. "No, you couldn't be, right?"

For a moment the spirit managed to hover in the air, its body flickering like a candle flame, or a distant star. Then Jack heard its voice. It was low at first, barely a whisper. The Moonbeam didn’t speak like humans or most animals did. It was more similar to the way Sanderson spoke, each word planting feelings and thoughts in his head.

((Ice-cold-unforviving-beauty-everywhere-beauty-glacier-love.))

So it was a different Moonbeam after all. This one had apparently fallen in love with the way the glacier reflected the star- and moonlight each night and made a home here on Earth.

((Caverns-fun-playground-run-chase-dragons-play.))

And knew the island very well, apparently.

"Are... Are you saying you know how to get through the caves?"

((Yes.))

"Do you know if there's a lake in there somewhere?"

((Yes.))

"Can you take us there?"

The Moonbeam wavered, returning to bouncing off the crystalline walls playfully. After it had made a full circle around Jack and Baby Tooth it came to hover before them again, seemingly pleased.

((Yes-please-follow-me!))

Jack and Baby Tooth grinned at each other. Suddenly the Moonbeam shot off again, bouncing along the tunnel walls and traveling deeper into the caverns.

"Hey wait for us!" Jack called after it as he took off, leaving the map behind in his haste.

It was hard not to think of it as a game of chase as Jack and Baby Tooth raced though the caverns after the Moonbeam. He fought to keep himself from laughing and cheering as he usually did when he flew through the air and even extinguished the light from his staff, allowing the Moonbeam to light their way. The light spirit never went too far ahead, always staying just within sight.

When the spirit stopped abruptly, confining itself to an icicle hanging from the top of the cavern, Jack practically skidded to a stop, digging his bare feet into the ice to slow himself down.

"What's up? Why are we stopping?"

((Healing-waters-below-danger-monstrous-ice-careful.))

"Huh?" Looking down to his feet he saw what the light spirit was talking about; a crevice in the ground, leading to a chamber below. "Oh, I get it! The lake's down there!"

((And probably the snow wraiths,)) Baby Tooth pointed out. ((Be careful Jackie.))

Nodding, Jack hopped into the mouth of the crevice. He dropped into the cavern silently, landing on the snowy ground at a crouch. Cautiously at first he rose, surveying his surroundings. Then he took in the sight before him and let out a low whistle.

"Whoa."

The cavern was stunning. A shimmering, sapphire lake sparkled from the light of the Moonbeam, splaying beautiful colors across the crystal cave. Hundreds of icicles hung from the ceiling like jewels from a necklace, blues and silvers blending together to give the cavern the appearance of what Jack imagined the inside of a diamond must look like.

"We are definitely building a summer home here," he said.

((Uh, I wouldn't be so sure about that,)) Baby Tooth said as she tugged at Jack's tunic to get him to turn around. He did, and immediately froze.

"Oh. Crap."

Seven dragons lay curled up against one another. Seven very large, spine-covered dragons with large, curved horns on their snouts and tusks protruding from their lower jaws. One of the dragons shifted in its sleep but did not wake up. As silently as he could, Jack let out a breath.

Moving slowly and carefully, Jack turned around and made his way to the lake. Even with Baby Tooth keeping her eyes on them he felt a bit anxious with the seven large dragons at his back. The Moonbeam's light overhead was reassuring, however, and with its guidance he managed to reach the edge of the lake without making a sound.

Jack let go of his staff, letting it balance on its end while he crouched at the edge of the lake. His movements were quick and efficient as he pulled the empty vials from his satchel and dipped them into the water. Now he was certain the lake was magic; the liquid practically hummed with it! His fear slowly ebbed as he filled the last vial and set it down and started corking the bottles.

((Jack, someone's waking up.))

Throwing a nervous glance over his shoulder, Jack saw that one of the snow wraiths was stirring. He moved quickly, jamming the last cork into the mouth of the bottle before gathering them up hastily and shoving them back into the satchel one at a time. It was impossible to not make a slight noise as the bottles clacked against each other, but when he snuck a peek at the snow wraiths they seemed unconcerned by the sound, if they heard it at all. Two of them were moving now, one arching its back and stretching in a feline manner while the second was lumbering towards the lake, its head hanging and eyes bleary. Jack wondered if it might be sleepwalking.

((Jack, hurry up.))

"I know, I know," he whispered. The lumbering snow wraith stopped for a moment, raising its head. Jack didn’t stop moving. He closed the satchel hastily and when he looked up the snow wraith was moving again, not coming directly towards him but making its way towards the water. Without taking his eyes off of the dragon Jack reached for his staff...

And flinched as his hand brushed the wood and knocked it off-balance. Five heads shot up as the wood clattered across the ice and before any of the dragons could lunge Jack snatched up his staff and shot into the air.

((Intruder-danger-what? Prey-find-you-hunt-you-tear-you-KILL-you!))

The snow wraiths' roars bounced around the cavern as Jack flew away chanting, "Time to go, time to go, time to go, time to go!"

The Moonbeam leaped from the icicle as Jack emerged from the crevice, five angry dragons – and two drowsily sluggish ones – right behind him.

((Happy-fun-game-chase-play-go!)) the Moonbeam cheered as they all raced through the tunnels once more. Despite the fact that the dragons seemed very angry Jack couldn’t help reacting to the light spirit's elation and laughing right along.

The flight was dizzying; they sped through tunnels, looped around arches in the ice, and weaved between icicles as long as spears and thick as tree trunks while their pursuers simply crashed through them. Eventually they saw a literal light at the end of the tunnel and mischievously the spirits laughed. The shot out into the moonlight, cackling elatedly for only a few seconds before falling silent and dropping down into the snow.

Jack pressed himself into the snow outside of the mouth of the cave while the Moonbeam hid in the ice crystals clinging to his tunic, hiding beneath his arms when he crossed them over his chest to keep its light from being spotted. Three seconds later the snow wraiths burst from the mouth of the cave, speeding right past the three spirits.

Biting his lip to stifle his laughter, Jack watched as the dragons whirled in the air, searching for him. The Wind, at his request, blew his scent away from them and against the shadows in the ice he didn’t think he’d be spotted. His stifled snickers came to an abrupt halt as Baby Tooth grabbed a tiny fistful of white hair and gave him a sharp tug.

((Jack, there's only four dragons up there. Five of them were chasing us.))

Uh oh. Baby Tooth was right. Where was the last dragon?

((Intruder-where-hungry-I-kill-tear-shred-intruder.))

Oh.

Tensing, Jack pressed himself flat against the ice as the final snow wraith emerged slowly from the cave, nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air, searching for him. Holding his breath, Jack prayed – or something similar to it – to the Man in the Moon that he wouldn’t be noticed.

'Please don't look this way, please don't look this way, please don't look this way...'

The snow wraith looked his way. Fingers tightening around his staff, Jack prepared for the dragon to lunge. It did nothing, aside from staring at him with blank eyes. After a moment it turned its head again, looking in the opposite direction before huffing.

((Intruder-creature-hiding-find-you-I-will-eat-you,)) it growled before slinking out of the cave. Like the other four, it moved right past Jack without ever noticing him.

Jack waited until it was climbing down the icy slope before he turned and bolted in the other direction, running as fast as he could towards the coast.

Snotlout was easily the most obnoxious, yak-headed, stubborn, spiteful, rude person Hiccup had ever had to deal with. For the seventeenth time that day Hiccup thanked the gods that he’d ended up stranded with his cousin.

"So how did you two end up separated from the group in the first place?" Stoick asked as he led the riders back to their home. Hiccup jabbed a thumb in Snotlout's direction.

"Snotlout decided to spread out the search area on his own and flew too close to a sea spout. Toothless and I got sucked in when I tried to pull him out."

Snotlout seemed to take offense to this version of events.

"Hey, it's not my fault that you had is searching in the wrong direction!" he snapped, grip tightening on Hookfang's horns.

"Which direction were you searching in?" Stoick asked, eyebrow raised.

"South," Hiccup and Snotlout answered in unison.

"That was the right direction," Stoick growled. Snotlout suddenly found a very fascinating cloud formation to examine.

Rolling his eyes Hiccup drifted closer to Astrid, who had remained surprisingly quiet during the flight. Throwing her a glance Hiccup asked, "So how've things been going since we vanished? The twins didn't burn down the village yet, did they?"

"No."

"Then what's wrong?" At Astrid's questioning look he added, "You've been kind of tense ever since we met up."

There was a moment of hesitation before Astrid answered, like she wasn’t sure what to tell him.

"I was hoping... That when we found you Jack would be with you."

Hiccup's foot faltered in the stirrup, causing Toothless's tail fin to slant and the pair of them to drop several feet in the air. Toothless let out a startled yelp before Hiccup managed to correct the position of his foot and pull them both back up to Astrid and Stormfly's level.

"What was that?"

With every word she spoke, Hiccup felt the pit in his stomach grow a little larger.

"He apparently went missing sometime after we left for the search and rescue mission. The kids haven't seen him and neither has anyone else, and Baby Tooth's gone too."

Every good feeling Hiccup had been feeling shriveled up and died. Jack was gone. So was Baby Tooth. Toothless crooned sadly, his mood matching his rider's while Hiccup pieced together what must have happened. The spirits had seemed happy enough the last time he spoke to them – well, his mind supplied, spoke to Jack – but maybe that hadn’t really been the case. The snow spirits must have taken off and left Berk far behind the moment he and the other riders left on their mission.

Was this because of how Hiccup had been keeping his distance? Because he flinched every time they touched now? Because he had snapped at Jack for feeding Toothless dried mackerel that time Toothless had run away from dragon training?

Already Hiccup knew he was letting his worries get the best of him. Shaking his head to clear these negative thoughts, he asked, "Did Gothi say anything about where he might be?"

Several beats passed. Turning to face Astrid, Hiccup found her awkwardly avoiding meeting his gaze.

"Did you talk to Gothi?"

"...No?" Astrid sighed, really looking like she was mentally kicking herself. "I'm sorry, I didn't think to."

"Don't worry about it. We'll talk to her as soon as we get to the village. C'mon bud, let's get going!"

With that Toothless and Hiccup shot forward, speeding past Stoick and Thornado before the chief had a chance to question what was happening. Tightening her grip on her saddle Astrid spurred Stormfly on. The nadderhead squawked and shot forward, attempting to close the distance between herself and Toothless even as the rest of the riders called after them.

The Moonbeam told him when the last of the snow wraiths had finally returned to their cave. It was at that point that Baby Tooth finally took to the air and Jack let himself burst out laughing both from excitement and relief.

"I can't believe we actually made it out of there," he said as he flipped open the satchel to check on the vials of glacial water. All whole and unbroken, even after all of the zigzagging through the tunnels. "Well, that's a lie, I can. That was fun, wasn't it?"

((Even the part where we almost got caught?)) Baby Tooth asked, although she was smiling as well. Jack flashed her a sly grin.

"Especially that part."

Baby Tooth shook her head, but her mismatched eyes sparkled in amusement nonetheless.

"Thanks for your help," Jack said to the Moonbeam as he closed the satchel. "Maybe Baby Tooth and I will come back and visit sometime."

The Moonbeam flickered, its light dimming almost sadly.

((Stay-play-don'tgo-please?))

"I wish I could, but I have to go. There's someone on Berk who really needs this water." The Wind wrapped around Jack and plucked him from the ground. "I'll come back and play with you again, I promise."

((It was nice to meet you!)) Baby Tooth chirped.

"Bye!"

With that both spirits took off, flying as fast as they could towards Berk. The Moonbeam glistened off of the ice of Glacier Island for a few moments, watching as its new friends flew away. Then it bounced from ice to water, skipping across the ocean waves after the snow spirits.

"Okay bud, that's enough food and water to get us to Glacier Island and back."

Toothless purred happily, flexing his wings. Questioning Gothi had revealed Jack's location, even though Gobber had taken a few whacks to the helmet in the process. Somehow the old blacksmith had managed to turn 'water' into 'whistle' and 'snow wraith' into 'snot wrist.'

The snow wraith. That was the whole reason Hiccup was leaving so quickly, despite having only just gotten back from Outcast Island. He needed to find Jack before he was attacked by one of those vicious dragons. Just remembering what had nearly happened with Nest Killer had his stomach tying itself in knots.

Hiccup was snapped from his thoughts by Wodensfang's pitiful whining. Turning his attention from his own dragon to Jack's little companion, Hiccup gave Wodensfang a gentle smile and a tickle on the chin.

"Sorry Wodensfang. We need to travel as fast as we can. Even on a nightfury the trip takes a few days." Wodensfang looked as offended as a tiny terrible terror could, fixing Hiccup with a glare. "Don't worry, we'll find Jack and bring him right back, okay?"

Huffing, Wodensfang jumped off of Hiccup's desk and sauntered past him. Hiccup shrugged as the little dragon hopped up onto his bed and made himself comfortable on top of the furs, where he proceeded to sulk.

"Alright, ready to go bud?" He received a purr and a happy tail wag in response. Placing his hand on Toothless's saddle Hiccup started leading him down the stairs. "We'll be back in a few days, Wodensfang."

Wodensfang gave him the draconic equivalent of a pout.

A banging knock came from Hiccup's front door before he’d even reached the bottom of the stairs. Toothless bounded ahead, wagging his tail eagerly until Hiccup opened the door.

"Astrid? What are you doing here?" Suspicion crept into his voice as he asked, "Are you planning on following me to Glacier Island?"

"Not even remotely. Hiccup, Jack's back."

Eyes nearly popping out of his skull and jaw dropping, Hiccup asked, "What?"

"Yeah, apparently he got back about an hour ago. He dropped something off with Gothi and then headed out to the Winter Cove."

Hiccup placed his hand on his chin and pushed his mouth closed. Jack was back. A relieved sigh worked its way past his lips. "Good, he didn't get eaten."

"You thought he was going to get eaten?"

"Uh, just ignore that," Hiccup said as he slipped past Astrid, Toothless following close on his heel. "I need to go talk to him. I'll see you later."

Astrid had no chance to get a word in before Hiccup threw himself onto Toothless's saddle and took off.

The sound of Toothless's wings beating against the air alerted Jack and Baby Tooth to Hiccup's arrival. Jack spun on his heel – sliding gracefully across the surface of the frozen pond on his bare soles – and grinned at the sight of them dropping down from the sky.

"Hey Hic!" he greeted as he ran towards the nightfury-rider pair. "How was your mission?"

Toothless kicked up clouds of snow as he landed. Immediately he bounded over to Jack and tackled him, shoving the spirit down into the snow. Jack laughed as Toothless proceeded to shower him with dragon kisses, not noticing Hiccup as he climbed from the saddle.

"Alright bud, that's enough, let him up!" Hiccup grabbed a hold of Toothless's harness and tried to pull him back, although it was a struggle. Eventually Baby Tooth came to the rescue, pressing her tiny hands against Toothless's muzzle and flying against him to push him off of Jack. For her, Toothless allowed himself to be pulled back.

"My hero," Jack teased as he was rescued from Toothless's assault. Using his staff as a support, Jack pushed himself to his feet, laughing as he brushed the excess snow from his clothes. "What are you guys doing here? Isn't it time for your evening flight?"

"I just had to make sure you were okay. I heard that you'd disappeared and I-" Hiccup stopped short. Jack would probably be irritated that Hiccup was worrying about him again. "I-I wanted to know where you went."

The look on Jack's face said he wasn’t buying Hiccup's explanation, but he answered anyway. "I went to Glacier Island to get something for Gothi." Shrugging, he added, "And I had a little fun while I was out. Turns out Glacier Island is pretty amazing."

Neither boy noticed as the dragon and fairy started chasing each other around the cove. Nodding along, Hiccup replied, "Oh, I'm sure it is. I, uh, heard a little bit about it from Gothi."

"Gothi?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you talk to Gothi?"

"Since I found out you disappeared."

To Hiccup's surprise and bewilderment, Jack started laughing.

"Wow! I didn't know I disappeared!" He kept laughing, paying no mind when Toothless went skidding across the surface of his pond. "I wasn't really gone that long, was I?"

"Well, no," Hiccup conceded. "But no one knew where you were or what'd happened to you-"

"Except Gothi."

"-except Gothi, and, well, I guess I got-"

"Aw, you were worried about me?" Jack's tone was not quite mocking, but it still felt like that and Hiccup grew indignant as a result.

"Well, can you blame me?" he snapped. "You disappeared without saying a word, again, and Gothi told me about these apparently perfect killers living out there in the blizzards who wiped out her whole hunting party when she was our age and-"

"Hey hey hey, calm down Hic! I was just teasing!" Jack prodded Hiccup’s chest with the crook of his staff. "Besides-" He shrugged. "-you disappeared without saying anything first."

Although not meant as an accusation, Hiccup still flinched as though struck. Jack was right, after all. What was he supposed to do when all of the dragon riders had left without telling him where they were going or what they were doing? He knew nothing would have stopped Jack from getting the healing water for Magnus's mother, even if he had to do it alone.

Guilt gnawed at Jack. Why was he so bad at dealing with other people?

"Look, I’m not..." He trailed off. Hiccup was scratching the back of his neck anxiously and refusing to meet his eyes. Forcing a smile, Jack took Hiccup's hand. Hiccup tensed but didn’t pull away. "C'mon, there's someone I wanna introduce you to."

More than a bit reluctantly, Hiccup allowed himself to be led to the edge of the pond where he found Toothless standing on his hind legs, buried up to his neck in a mound of snow. Baby Tooth was floating above his head laughing hysterically.

"Uh Jack, I've already met Toothless and Baby Tooth," Hiccup said. Jack laughed as he let go of Hiccup's arm.

"Not them. Watch the ice."

Confused, Hiccup did as he was told. The ice sparkled beautifully, reflecting the light of the stars right back at them, but Hiccup was unable to see whatever it was Jack wanted him to look for. With his staff Jack motioned for Hiccup to take another step closer and he did, wondering if he was being set up for another prank.

The ice didn’t suddenly climb up his legs or shatter under his feet – not that he thought that Jack would ever do something like that – but it did look... strange. Hiccup's reflection smiled back at him. Smiled, although Hiccup himself wasn’t smiling. Then it waved.

"What the-!?" Startled Hiccup leaped backwards and collapsed in the snow while Jack burst out into a giggling fit. The snow around Toothless crumbled as he fell forward onto all four paws and stepped towards Hiccup, head tilting curiously.

"You alright?" Jack asked as he took Hiccup's hand and helped him to his feet. "I didn't think it'd scare you that much!"

Hiccup sputtered, gaze shooting from his reflection, to Jack, and back to his reflection again. "What is-? How did-? What!?"

Toothless approached cautiously, sniffing at the ice where Hiccup's reflection remained even after the dragon rider had pulled away. When the reflection moved on its own, waving at the nightfury, he leaped back himself, crooning and pawing at the ice.

"Meet my new friend," Jack said, floating over to the pond. Hiccup watched in horrified amazement as his reflection lifted itself from the ice, no longer resembling Hiccup.

A being no larger than Wodensfang, made entirely of light now floated before him. Vaguely it resembled a humanoid with no legs and curling wisps for arms. Tentatively Hiccup stepped forward, hand moving almost on its own to touch the light, but before he could it suddenly darted away. Hiccup watched as it sank back into the surface of the pond before shooting into the air to sparkle inside of an icicle hanging from one of the branches overlooking the cove and then bounced again from snowflake to snowflake blanketing Jack's hideaway. Toothless watched as well, head moving as he followed the light creature's journey with his eyes.

Eventually after bouncing every which way the creature came to rest on the crystals of frost decorating Jack's clothing. This time Hiccup did not bother to push his own mouth closed. Baby Tooth helped him with that.

"Hiccup, meet Flee. Flee, Hiccup."

A beat. Then two. Eventually Toothless came to stand next to Hiccup and helped snap him out of it by slapping Hiccup across the back of his head with his tail.

"F-Flee? You're friend is a... is a..."

"A spirit, like me," Jack explained. "Well, not exactly like me. Flee's a Moonbeam, one of Manny's messengers."

Mani's? Jack had befriended one of the moon god's messengers? Hiccup wouldn’t have believed it if his reflection hadn’t literally stepped out of the pond. Or, maybe he would have. It was Jack, after all.

"That's... Wow."

Flee glistened. Hiccup hoped they weren’t going to attack him like Baby Tooth had when they first met. Fortunately, they didn’t. Instead they blinked like a star and disappeared back into the glistening ice.

"And I thought getting stranded on Outcast Island was exciting," he said, causing Jack to whirl towards him with wide eyes.

"You were stranded where!?"

Smirking, Hiccup added, "With Snotlout."

"Dude, I am so sorry."

Hiccup failed to suppress a snicker.

"Eh, it wasn't that bad."

Jack stared at Hiccup in feigned horror.

"Who are you and what have you done with Hiccup?"

Both teens burst out laughing together. As he collected his breath Hiccup watched Jack, taking in the way the light from the Moonbeam reflected off of his pale skin and made his eyes sparkle. It was funny, Hiccup thought, that he hadn’t noticed the snowflake patterns in them before.

A cold gust of wind snapped Hiccup out of his thoughts as Jack started to hover in the air.

"Hey, you up for a flight? Let's make it a race!" The frost ferns on his tunic sparkled with Flee's light. "Betcha Flee can outrun Toothless!"

"Oh, it is on!"

Toothless shook the last of the snow from his saddle before Hiccup climbed on but by the time Hiccup had clicked his prosthetic into place Jack, Baby Tooth, and Flee were already in the sky. They spent the rest of the night chasing each other over the ocean by the light of the moon.

Chapter Text

Jack wasn’t surprised when he exited Gothi's hut after he had finished his training for the day to find Hiccup and Toothless waiting for him. Somewhat confused, as he had been for the past several days, but not at all surprised.

"Hey Hic, where's the fire?" A slight pause. "Please tell me there's no actual fire."

"No, there's no actual fire," Hiccup confirmed. "Just, ah, wanted to see if you wanted me to fly to the Academy with you."

Floating above Jack's shoulder, Baby Tooth rolled her eyes.

"Believe it or not," Jack said, shutting the door to Gothi's hut shut behind him, "I do remember the way."

"Well, yeah, but I thought it would be more fun than going alone," Hiccup said, prompting Jack to raise a skeptical eyebrow. "Besides, this way you don't have to get out of the village before you take off, you can just ride with me on Toothless."

"Uh-huh."

Hiccup swallowed nervously. Was Jack really going to refuse? He knew he’d been a little... Paranoid lately. Paranoid that Jack might vanish again and this time not return. He thought that he’d been careful about letting it show, but apparently he hadn’t been careful enough.

Flashing an impish smile, Jack placed his hand on Toothless's head and said, "You don't have to lie to me you know."

Eyes going wide, Hiccup stared at Jack. Did he really know...?

But Jack was not looking at him. All of the elf's attention was on Toothless, who was purring happily as Jack gave his head-fins a gentle scratch.

"You've been missing me, huh Toothless?"

((Icicle-good-fun-me-missing-you-missing-Small-Tooth-happy-now-good-yes!)) Toothless replied. His purring grew louder when Baby Tooth chirped and landed on his head, giving him a gentle pat as well. Nobody noticed Hiccup as he let out a breath.

"Yeah, you got me. Toothless gets antsy when you don't come to the Academy. It's really annoying."

Toothless turned on Hiccup with an irritated huff. ((Annoying-you-Hiccup-exasperation-you-missing-Icicle.))

Jack and Baby Tooth laughed while Hiccup just glared at his partner.

"Alright then, let's get going! Chop chop Hic!"

"Aright, aright! I'm coming!"

Hiccup climbed into Toothless's saddle first, Jack settling behind him soon after. The butterflies in his stomach began to flutter yet again, but by now Hiccup thought he was getting the hang of ignoring them. If only he could deal with the redness in his cheeks by just ignoring that as well. Toothless spread his wings as Hiccup's foot clicked into place and they were about to take off when they heard the rush of another dragon's wings in the air and Stoick's booming voice.

"Hiccup! There you are!"

Baby Tooth hid behind one of Toothless's ear flaps as Stoick and Thornado dropped out of the sky, landing in front of the two teens and the nightfury. Gobber leaned out from behind Stoick and waved, giving the three of them a hearty, "Hello!"

Paying his right hand man no mind, Stoick continued, "I have a bit of a situation I could use your help with. Trader Johann was supposed to be bringing me a very important item and he's three days late now."

"What's he bringing?" Hiccup asked.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that Johann is late and we need to find out why." Stoick gave Thornado's reigns a light tug and immediately the thunderdrum leaped into the air. "We could use your help with the search. Yours and Toothless's."

"Okay, let me just swing by the Academy and get the others-"

"No time," Stoick interrupted. "We need to head out as soon as possible. That means right now."

With that Stoick turned Thornado around and they flew off, over the ocean. Jack and Hiccup exchanged a glance. After a moment of awkwardness Jack broke the silence.

"I guess that's my cue to leave," he said as he threw his leg over Toothless's side. Baby Tooth emerged form her hiding place and immediately settled on Jack's shoulder.

"You don't have to..." Hiccup trailed off as Jack waved him off.

"I'll meet you at the Academy after you find Johann. Good luck!"

'Good luck,' Jack had said. Hiccup suspected he needed less luck in finding Johann and more for dealing with his father. They spent most of the afternoon searching and by the time the sun started to sink in the sky, splashing shades of orange and pink across the surface of the ocean they’d still found nothing. It took some convincing from Gobber, but eventually Stoick relented and had them turn back towards Berk, with the promise that they would resume the search in the morning.

"Are you sure Trader Johann even has it?" he overheard Gobber asking Stoick.

"I'm sure," Stoick replied, turning to look at Gobber over his shoulder. "I heard it from Jorgenson, who heard it from Stevenson the shepherd, who talked to Toldstadt the fisherman, who said he saw Johann put it on the boat himself."

"Well, it doesn't get any more sure than that!" Gobber drawled. And Stoick wondered where Hiccup got his sarcastic attitude from.

"You know, it might help if I actually knew what we were looking for!" Hiccup called after his father.

"We're looking for Johann, that's all you need to know!" Stoick shot back. Thornado roared and shot ahead. Hiccup watched Stoick race ahead, concern in his eyes. What did Johann have that was so important to his father?

Frost climbed over the bars of the hanging cage dangling over the Academy as Jack frost landed, balancing atop the chilled metal. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins stood down below cheering on Astrid who was soaring high in the air above the arena, clinging to Stormfly's back as the nadderhead dropped into a free fall towards the ground. Jack unclasped his satchel so that Baby Tooth could come out and watch the show.

The frost fairy chirped excitedly and clapped her tiny hands together as Stormfly's wings shot open and she swerved in the air, looping up and around. Jack leaned against the chain as he watched her routine, the temptation to join her in the air proving difficult to resist. Unfortunately she swooped down only a few minutes later, whizzing past him as she and Stormfly descended inside of the Academy.

"Nice job Astrid!" he called as he slipped between the bars and dropped down into the ring beside the other teenagers. Although none of them had noticed him lurking up there, by this point they were used to him randomly dropping in on them and no one was surprised to seem him appear seemingly from thin air, although Snotlout did let out an irritated huff at Jack's appearance.

"Do you have to spy on us?" the burly teen growled. Jack shrugged, resting his staff against his shoulder.

"Do you have to ask stupid questions?" Jack retorted, earning snickers from the twins. Astrid stepped between the two of them before Snotlout could attempt to start a brawl.

"Alright guys, that's enough for the day," she announced. Fixing Snotlout with a pointed look, not quite a glare, but commanding all the same, she added, "Class dismissed."

"Does that mean we get to do whatever we want now?" Tuffnut asked, suddenly appearing to Jack's left while Ruffnut appeared to Jack's right. The spirit seemed a little worried with the twins boxing him in. "Because if that's the case we need to borrow Jack for something..."

"You're not using him to freeze Mildew's mustache to his sheep's wool."

Ruffnut scoffed. "You think that's what we're planning? Way to underestimate us, Astrid."

"Uh, do I get any say in this?" Jack asked nervously.

"No," the twins chorused.

"You two," Astrid started, her stern look turning into a full on glare, "You two, gone. Now."

Reluctantly the two backed out of Jack's personal space, Ruffnut’s hand lingering just a moment longer than her brother’s and her eyes fluttering as she batted them, before turning and running to Barf-and-Belch's side. Both heads crooned at their riders as the twins mounted and prepared to take off. Even Snotlout was ready to leave, shooting Jack one last withering look before mounting Hookfang. Jack stuck his tongue out at Snotlout's turned back. Only Fishlegs and Astrid stayed behind, the former staring at Jack with a pensive look.

"Hey Jack, I was wondering... You never told us about what you saw on Glacier island. The snow wraith doesn't have a chapter in the Book of Dragons so I was wondering if you could tell me about what you saw so I could get that chapter written?"

"Sure, no problem." Jack floated several feet off of the ground and landed on top of a stack of barrels with targets painted on them. "If you're okay with hanging around here for a while. I'm supposed to meet Hiccup after he's done helping his dad."

It was cold out there, and growing colder, but Fishlegs apparently didn’t mind. Neither did Astrid for that matter, or their dragons. The time passed quickly as Jack told them the story of his adventures on Glacier Island, Fishlegs fascinated by his description of the wild dragons and Astrid impressed by his daring escape from them. Baby Tooth assisted in the story telling, acting out the scenes as Jack described them.

As Jack told the story Fishlegs made a point of taking notes and asking questions, even creating a detailed sketch of the snow wraiths. Astrid might have been annoyed were Jack not such a good storyteller. After listening to him speak she could have sworn she’d seen the snow wraiths and the crystal lake herself. The Vikings clapped as they concluded their story and took a deep bow.

"This is going in the Book of Dragons as soon as possible!" Fishlegs exclaimed, gathering up his notes and sketches and running to Meatlug's side. Meatlug's tongue lolled out of her mouth happily as he mounted her. "This is so exciting, I wish I could have seen these dragons myself! Who knew that snow wraiths were blind? I'll see you guys tomorrow, I have a lot of work to do! Let's go Meatlug."

Jack, Astrid, and Baby Tooth waved the two of them goodbye while Stormfly and Wodensfang lifted their wings. Once they were gone Jack hopped down from the barrels and stood before Stormfly. She crooned happily as he scratched the underside of her chin, her favorite spot.

"You know, between you and Hiccup I think I'm starting to sense a pattern," she commented half-jokingly. Jack shot her a playful smirk.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." She shot him a smirk of her own. "Involving crazy adventures and wild dragons. I'd be jealous if I didn't have a sense of self-preservation."

"I have a sense of self-preservation." At the look Astrid fixed him with Jack pointed at Baby Tooth. "Right here, see?"

Turning to Baby Tooth, Astrid said, "Thanks for bringing this idiot back in one piece."

((My pleasure!)) Baby Tooth chirped. Jack shot her a look and blew a cold breeze at her, causing even more frost to accumulate on her feathers. She blinked, momentarily stunned, and then proceeded to ruffle her feathers, shaking off the tiny flecks of ice.

"You know, there is one thing I left out of the story," Jack said, ignoring the look Baby Tooth was fixing him with. Astrid raised an eyebrow.

"And what's that? And please don't tell me you tamed a snow wraith and brought it here."

"No, but now that you've said it I feel like I missed an opportunity."

The moment the words left his lips Wodensfang was on him, tiny claws digging into the thin material of his tunic as he crooned sadly, ((No-no-replace-me-saaaad-Icicle-no!))

"Kidding! I'm just kidding!" Jack assured the tiny dragon as he clambered up onto Jack's shoulder. "'Sides, who could replace you? Anyway, I did bring someone back from Glacier Island, but they're not a dragon."

Astrid's hand stopped moving. Crossing her arms she prompted him to continue with a look.

"Don't worry, you'll like them. They're a Moonbeam." A slight pause. "One of Manny's messengers."

Eyes going wide, Astrid asked, "Those are real too?"

"Well yeah! I named this one Flee."

"Flee?"

"Because they love to play chase and move so fast."

"Where is... Flee?"

"On the island somewhere." Jack shrugged. "They kinda come and go as they please."

"So basically they're just like you."

"Basically."

Astrid grinned and returned to petting Stormfly, trying not to let it show that she was flattered. It seemed like an expression of trust that he had chosen to tell her about the Moonbeam spirit. There might not have been any conscious thought behind it, but he had waited until Fishlegs was gone to tell her. That probably said something about where they stood with each other, right?

She was not given much time to dwell on it. All sets of eyes present shot upwards as the sound of a dragon cutting through the air came from overhead. Not three seconds later Hiccup and Toothless were walking side-by-side through the front gate to the Academy.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Hiccup asked as he caught sight of Astrid and Jack standing next to each other.

"Waiting for you, duh," Jack replied. "How'd the search go, you find Trader Johann?"

"No, we didn't. My dad wants to resume the search tomorrow morning."

((Hiccup-Beloved-worried-sad-worried-Alpha-wingless-angry-precious-thing-lost-important-sad,)) Toothless crooned.

"What precious thing?" Jack asked, causing Hiccup's eyebrows to scrunch up in confusion.

"What are you- Oh, right." Toothless pressed his head against Hiccup's palm reassuringly as Hiccup pat his companion's head. "Well, I don't know what it is, he wouldn't tell me. Just that it's important."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Astrid's question drew confused stares from both Hiccup and Jack. "C'mon Hiccup, you wouldn't expect me to believe you're not planning on going looking for Johann by yourself?"

"O-of course not! Why would you think that?"

"Because there's a travel pack attached to Toothless's saddle, that's why."

Hiccup flinched. "Alright, look, if you must know-"

"And we must," Astrid interjected.

"I'm going to find Trader Johann and whatever it is he's supposed to be bringing for my father."

A smile tugged at Astrid's lips. She placed her hand on Stormfly's saddle and shot a glance at Jack. From the look on his face she figured he was on the same page as her.

"Alright. So when do we leave."

"I need to go alone," Hiccup tried to argue. "If we all disappear my dad will get suspicious."

Jack raised an eyebrow and slung his staff over his shoulder. "Really? I seem to recall a certain someone giving me a hard time for going to Glacier Island by myself."

Hiccup's mouth was open to argue that this was different, but Astrid cut him off yet again.

"Jack's right Hiccup, you shouldn't be doing this alone. You might run into trouble out there, and besides, won't the search go faster with more than two sets of eyes?"

She knew her argument was sound, and that Hiccup wouldn’t be able to rebuke it. Crossing her arms, she shot him a smug look that dared him to try, but he knew she had him beat too and just groaned in exasperation.

"Al-alright, fine! You two can come, but that's it!" He made an 'x' with his arms, attempting to sound stern. "Don't even tell the others. Heed my warning! I'm serious!"

They did not heed his warning.

Hiccup growled under his breath as he flew at the head of a formation, the entire Dragon Riding Academy flying behind him and Jack flanking him and Toothless. Even Wodensfang had come, just barely clinging to Jack's tunic with his tiny talons.

"Hey Hiccup!" Ruffnut called from her position over his left shoulder. "Is it true Trader Johann's bringing a snow wraith? Because if he is I don't think I have anything to trade for it."

Where did she even get that idea?

"I'm pretty sure I said, 'Don't tell the others,'" Hiccup shouted, turning to glare at Astrid and Jack over his shoulder.

Jack's expression was completely remorseless. "Whoops."

"Hiccup, aren't you always saying it's better when we work as a team?" Fishlegs said in an attempt to be helpful. Hiccup could see where he was coming from, he really could, but that did nothing to stop his rising frustration towards the other dragon riders in that moment, particularly Fishlegs.

"Yeah, next time I say that just slap me in the face."

"I'll do it right now!" Ruffnut offered a little too eagerly. Smirking, her brother added, "She will! And she slaps like a guy. It's awesome, watch!"

There was a pretty sharp, distinct of flesh striking flesh and Hiccup didn’t have to look to know that Ruffnut really had slapped Tuffnut across the face at his request. Or that he’d enjoyed it.

"Yeah!"

((Strange-exasperation-you-both-strange-why-you-strike-you?)) Barf-and-Belch growled at his riders.

"Hey look!" Astrid shouted, choosing to ignore the twin's ridiculous behavior in favor of pointing out something in the sea below; a lone bit of driftwood, and clinging to it a person with dark hair and fine clothes.

"I can't see anything through the tears!" Tuffnut shouted but already the other dragon riders had located the figure bobbing up and down in the waves.

"Is that... Trader Johann?" Hiccup asked, squinting his eyes to see past the glare of sunlight reflected by the water.

"I thought he had a bigger boat than that!" Snotlout joked, apparently unconcerned by the fact that they had just found Johann adrift at sea.

"C'mon gang," Hiccup said, already beginning his descent, "let's check it out."

Johann was unconscious, either from exhaustion, dehydration, heat-stroke or some combination of those thing, and failed to react when Toothless plucked him neatly from the water. The riders flew to the nearest bit of land they could find; a rocky protrusion in the ocean that was barely flat enough on one side for the dragons to perch on. As soon as Johann had been set down Jack started tending him. Using his magic he chilled a water-skin and held the pouch to the old man's lips, forcing him to drink.

Hiccup had Toothless use his wings to shield Johann from the sun until the sun moved and the shadow of the rock formation they were perched on covered him. At a certain point they began to worry he might not wake up.

That fear disappeared as Johann's eyes fluttered open. For a moment the trader simply stared blankly at the sky above him.

"Er, Johann?" Hiccup leaned over him. "Are you okay?"

Hiccup jumped back as Johann suddenly jolted upright, nearly colliding his forehead with Hiccup's. His eyes were wide with fright and he seemed to not really see any of the teens surrounding him. Lips moving wordlessly, Johann repeated the same phrase over and over again. Slowly his voice came back, low and raspy at first, but enough to be heard.

"The fog. The fooooog."

Well, that was more than slightly ominous. Hiccup stepped forward, grabbing Johann's attention before he could notice Baby Tooth slipping into Jack's satchel.

"Johann, where is your ship?" he asked as he started rifling through his own travel bags for some food to give to Johann.

"No idea," Johann responded, sounding surprisingly coherent. "All I know is one minute I was sailing in a perfectly calm sea, the wind at my back." Suddenly all calmness was gone from his voice and he gripped the water-skin so tightly that he droplets of cold water were sent flying from the opening. "The next thing I know my entire ship is pulled out from under me, and I'm shark bait!"

Hiccup exchanged a nervous glance with Astrid. "I don't understand," he said, handing Johann the salted salmon he’d found.

Johann accepted the fish almost mechanically but didn’t acknowledge it. His voice grew more frantic as he explained, "I do! I was three days late and trying to make up time, and I got too close!"

"Too close to what?" Fishlegs asked nervously.

"Too close to... Breakneck Bog!"

"Breakneck Bog..." the Riders of Berk chorused, mixed looks of horror, excitement, and confusion on their faces. Jack watched their reaction, eyebrow raised, before turning to Wodensfang. The tiny dragon chirped at him, apparently no more knowledgeable than him.

"What's Breakneck Bog?"

Fishlegs rounded on him, eyes wide with fright. "Many a ship has sailed into its waters," he told Jack. "Few have returned."

"My grandfather told me it's pirates," Astrid added in an attempt to be reassuring. Her theory was met with a derisive snort from Snotlout.

"That's ridiculous!" the burly teen sneered. "Everybody knows it's haunted by a fog monster!"

Already frightened, Fishlegs felt the blood drain from his face in sheer terror. "F-fog monster!?"

The twins, seeing his terror, jumped on the chance to torment the poor Viking. They started circling Fishlegs, voices low and eerie as they recounted the version of the tale they had heard.

"The legend says the fog monster makes this really creepy moan," Tuffnut began, moaning for good measure and causing Fishlegs to let out a startled squeak. "Then he surrounds you and scrapes the skin off your bones! And then he scrapes the bones off of whatever's under those!"

Ruffnut pressed her hand over her mouth to stifle her snickers when Fishlegs shrieked aloud.

"And then he drops the bones from the sky!" she added, her brother nodding along eagerly to her addition to the story. Johann was nodding as well, looking far less pleased than the twins.

"Yes, yes, it's true! What he says!" Johann cried. His eyes darted every which way, as though he were afraid the monster from the twins' story might materialize from thin air. "It- It surrounded me!"

"See?" Snotlout said, looking decidedly smug. "Fog monster!" He snickered to himself, muttering about pirates and grandfathers under his breath. Astrid crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Johann, we need to find your ship." Hiccup placed his hands on Johann's shoulders in a show of reassurance. "There's something on it that's for my father."

"Yes, yes, yes there was! But it wasn't for your father. It was for you!"

It took Hiccup a moment to process those words. "For me? From who?"

"He didn't tell you?" There was a touch of pity in Johann's voice. "It was from your mother."

Hiccup sucked in a sharp breath. "My mother?"

"That's impossible," Astrid said. Her eyes were on Hiccup's back, and a part of her wanted to reach out to him and place a consoling hand on his shoulder. She held back, however, in front of the Riders and in front of Johann.

Shaking his head, Hiccup asked, "What is it?"

"I have no idea, lad." Trader Johann sounded truly sympathetic. "I just know it's in a chest with a Berk crest on it."

"I have to find it," Hiccup said, his voice gaining a bit of the panicked desperation that his father's had the previous day. He knelt next to Johann, expression stern as he said, "Take us back there. You show us where you were when you lost your ship."

Johann immediately flew into a panic. He started to crawl away from Hiccup, pulling himself to his feet only when Hiccup himself stood.

"No! No, I won't! You can't make me! I have a knife in my boot!"

He might have sounded more threatening if each of the teens, with the exception of Jack, were not already carrying a weapon. Even Hiccup had his newly-made as of yet unnamed sword slung across his back. It also might have helped if Johann hadn’t whimpered at the end of his outburst. He managed to keep up his display for all of five seconds before his face fell and shoulders slumped in defeat.

"I don't have a knife in my boot, but no more fog! Please!"

Jack stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on the frightened man's arm. "Then just tell us how to get there. We'll have someone take you back to Berk while we look for your ship."

The trader seemed to relax the slightest bit, breath evening out as he met Jack's eyes.

"Head due east," Johann said finally. "There's a group of islands in the shape of a man's hand. Breakneck Bog is the thumb."

Nodding, Hiccup turned towards his cousin. "Snotlout, you and the twins take him back to Berk," he ordered, causing Snotlout's face to fall.

"Back to Berk?" Snotlout growled in frustration. "With this clown?" He pointed at Johann, and then at the twins. "And those clowns?"

"Would you look at him? We don't have any choice!" Hiccup pointed out, drawing attention to Johann's haphazard appearance. "And if anything happens you'll be glad you have them with you."

Snotlout clearly did not agree, glowering at Hiccup first and then at Johann, as though it were the traveling merchant's idea.

"Question," Fishlegs cut in, raising a hand. "What are the rest of us doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Jack flashed Fishlegs a smirk, leaning his weight against his staff. "We're going on an adventure to a terrifying, unknown island that may or may not be haunted by a fog monster!"

Fishlegs let out a pitiful whimper.

By the time Breakneck Bog had become visible, a tiny speck near the edge of the horizon, Fishlegs had still not given up trying to convince Hiccup to turn back.

"What if I give you something from my mother?" he attempted, and when that didn’t appear to be working, "Or I could give you my mother! You know you love her crab cakes!"

Hiccup just rolled his eyes.

Astrid and Jack shared a mischievous look as they drifted behind Fishlegs. "The fog," they chorused, "The fooooog!"

Poor Fishlegs let out a panicked shriek, causing the two of them to burst out into laughter. Attempting to look angry, Fishlegs pointed to his now watering eyes.

"Tears, guys, is that what you wanna see?"

Ignoring their antics, Hiccup pointed ahead. "Look, there it is! Breakneck Bog!"

Breakneck was no longer a tiny point in the distance, but a mist-enshrouded landscape covered in dense forests. The dragons and Jack flew faster, closing the rapidly shrinking distance between them and the island.

"Oh, yay, fog monster, here we come..." Fishlegs moaned unenthusiastically.

"C'mon Fishlegs, you don't really believe that stupid story the twins told, do you?" Hiccup asked. His attempt at reassurance seemed to work; Fishlegs' expression lifted just a little.

"Actually..." And then it fell again as Jack started speaking. "There could be something to it. There are lots of spirits that hide in mist or fog, or maybe it's a fearling creating the legend of a monster to create fear to feed off of."

"I'm going back to Berk!" Fishlegs announced, turning Meatlug around, only to find their path was blocked by Astrid and Stormfly. "Oooor, not..." Reluctantly he turned Meatlug around again and resumed flying towards the island. "C'mon girl, let's get this over with."

Hiccup had them circle around the island several times before they landed, thinking Johann's missing ship would have washed up on shore if it was on the island at all. They didn’t find so much as a scrap of sail or bit of wood.

"I don't get it," he started as he and Toothless set down on land, the other three landing behind them. "We flew all around the island. No boat."

"No boat," Astrid repeated, "Not even the remains of a boat."

"Could something have dragged the boat inland?" Jack suggested, doing nothing to assuage Fishlegs' growing fear.

"You know who would take a boat?" He asked, voice a low whimper. "Fog monster!"

As though on cue, a low moan rose from the fog.

((Intruders-here-caution-danger-intruders-big-mean-frightening-few-intruders-few-we-many-we-hide-we-wait-we-strike.))

Jack's head perked up. "I hear voices out there."

"Oh great," Fishlegs huffed, "That's not creepy at all!"

((You-many-weak!-me-stronger-faster-fiercer-protect-Hiccup-Beloved-protect!)) Toothless growled at the mist. Stormfly, Meatlug, and even Wodensfang reared up as well, the larger dragons baring their fangs while Wodensfang leaped from Jack's shoulder to stand between the spirit and the mist as though he were acting as a shield.

"Settle down bud," Hiccup said, placing a hand on Toothless's head to calm him. Astrid and Fishlegs followed his example, calming their dragons quickly, though the creatures remained noticeably on edge.

((That couldn't have been a fearling,)) Baby Tooth pointed out, chirping directly into Jack's ear. ((Fearlings moan, but they don't speak.))

"What was that?" Astrid asked as she finally got Stormfly to calm down. Hiccup shot her a knowing look.

"Only one way to find out."

Toothless and Stormfly started walking into the misty woods, Jack pausing to scoop up Wodensfang in his free hand before following after them. Only Fishlegs hesitated.

"Wait a minute, you don't go towards the weird scary sound!" he tried to protest. Jack and Hiccup kept moving, but Astrid hung back for just a moment to face Fishlegs.

"Yeah we do. We always do that," she pointed out.

Fishlegs sighed in resignation.

"I hate that about us," he said as Meatlug started following the others into the fog.

Hiccup, Astrid, and Fishlegs finally dismounted their dragons after several minutes of walking. The dragons surrounded the three of them, as well as Jack, on all sides while the teens pressed close to one another. Despite his skepticism towards the fog monster theory, Hiccup couldn’t deny that this island was eerie. He felt like they were being watched and if what Jack had said about voices in the fog was true then they very well could be.

Not once did Fishlegs stop whimpering. He jumped at every slight noise to the growing frustration of the other teens and when something crunched beneath his feet he yelped and jumped nearly twenty feet into the air.

"Ugh, bones," he groaned as he looked at his feet and saw what he had stepped on. "That's just perfect."

He nearly walked into Jack as the spirit stopped suddenly. Jack was staring intently at something out in the mist.

"What are you- Mmf!"

Jack slapped a hand over Fishlegs' mouth to silence him as he strained his eyes. Finally Hiccup and Astrid stopped as well, turning to face him. After several moments he removed his hand from Fishlegs's face, the large viking rubbing his sore lips tenderly.

"Out there, take a look," Jack told the others, pointing with his staff. They did, struggling to see what he was looking at with the swirling mist surrounding them.

Hiccup noticed it first. For a moment he thought it was a person. He was about to call out to them when it suddenly hit him that he wasn’t seeing a shape through the fog... Rather, it appeared to be a shadow cast on the fog, cast by nobody he could see.

((Sick-shadow-bad-wrong,)) Wodensfang hissed as he pawed at the ground.

Fishlegs 'eeped' and jumped behind Astrid as her hand went to the axe dangling from her belt.

"Fearling," she growled while Stormfly flared her wings and raised her quills in a threatening display.

"It looks... sick," Hiccup commented, noting how small and wispy it seemed compared to the bloated things he had seen on Outcast Island.

"I bet it hasn't feed on anyone in a long time. People might've come here a long time ago, but they avoid this place now. It doesn't have any fear to eat," Jack explained.

"Can they starve to death?" Hiccup asked, eyes never leaving the fearling. It wavered back and forth, but didn’t leave. It was just... Watching them. Now he knew what that feeling was, but somehow that did nothing to make him feel better.

"I don't think so." Jack turned to Baby Tooth for confirmation.

((No, they can't. They can grow weak, even go dormant, but the only thing that can truly kill them is pure starlight.))

"Baby Tooth says they can go dormant, but you still need light to kill 'em."

"If they can go dormant," Fishlegs asked, "does that mean there could be others here? Sleeping?"

"Maybe that's why it shipwrecked Johann; so it would have someone to feed off of," Astrid suggested, but Jack shook his head.

"Somehow I doubt Tiny over there is sinking ships. He doesn’t look like he can do much of anything except stand there and look creepy."

"Let's get rid of it anyway," Hiccup said, climbing into Toothless's saddle. Toothless's pupils had narrowed into slits and locked onto the fearling. "Even if it didn't sink Johann's ship we don't want to give it a chance to feed on anybody ever."

Suddenly the fearling lurched in the air. As if sensing their sudden hostility the fearling disappeared into the mist, Hiccup and Jack hot on its heels while Astrid and Fishlegs mounted their dragons.

The fearling weaved around trees, under logs, and over boulders as it tried to evade its pursuers, but Hiccup and Jack never lost sight of it and never slowed down, even when they could no longer hear Astrid and Fishlegs calling after them.

"Jack, you go around!" Hiccup shouted. "I'll push it towards you."

"Got it!" Jack shouted before swerving sharply to the side and disappearing into the mist.

The fearling let out a piteous shriek as Toothless launched a plasma bolt at it. The fireball missed, exploding against the trunk of a tree and sending it and several others down in a spray of smoke and ash. The fearling turned as the trees collapsed in its path and Toothless fired at it again. Once again Toothless's attack missed. A thundering crack echoed through the air as his plasma bolt struck the ground and sent a geyser of dirt exploding upwards. Fearling swerved around it, using the dirt as camouflage and then-

"Gotcha!"

There was a bright flash of silvery-blue light along with the crackling of ice forming rapidly and the fearling froze in place. Jack strolled towards the trapped fearling casually, twirling his staff in his hand and flashing a cocky smirk. Baby Tooth was perched on his shoulder looking especially proud

"Well that was fun," he said as he prodded the fearling with the crook of his staff. Little bursts of light danced across the icy coating every time Jack's staff made contact. "We should do this more often!"

Smiling, Hiccup nodded as he dismounted Toothless and approached the fearling. His smile fell as he observed the creature, yellow eyes seeming to follow him even through the ice.

"I can't believe these things have been in the archipelago and nobody ever noticed," he said. Toothless bared his fangs and growled at the creature.

((Evil-shadow-wrong-bad-evil-too-slow-too-weak-me-catch-you-blast-you-kill-you.))

"Well, they are pretty good at hiding themselves," Jack said. He was backing away from the fearling, but he never took his eyes off of it. He seemed almost curious, studying the fearling like he had Toothless in the beginning. The only difference was that he viewed the fearling with clear disdain whereas in Toothless's case his eyes had been filled with wonder. "Hey Toothless, you wanna do the honors?"

Hiccup took several clumsy steps back as Toothless parted his maw, a purple glow building inside along with a whistling scream. As Toothless released his attack Hiccup whirled around and threw his hands over his head to protect himself from the flying bits of earth and ice. They pelted his hands and the back of his vest and Hiccup shuddered as he felt a shard of ice slide down the back of his neck. Jack laughed as Hiccup wiggled, attempting to dislodge it, and even Toothless goff goff goffed at the display.

"Not funny you guys!" Hiccup snapped as he finally felt the ice fall out the back of his tunic. Jack was still chuckling.

"It's a little funny!" Jack laughed while Baby Tooth chirped, ((It was hilarious!)) Hiccup just rolled his eyes at the pair.

"C'mon, let's go meet up with the others." Hiccup climbed back into Toothless's saddle and snapped his prosthetic back into place. "We must've lost them when we were chasing the fearling."

"You remember which way we came from?"

"Uuuuuhhhhhhhhh..."

((Just follow me,)) Baby Tooth said, wings humming to life as she flew ahead of Jack and Hiccup. ((I remember which way we came from.))

With that she turned and flew off, Toothless following close behind her and Jack following close behind Toothless. A moment later Jack stopped, whirling around as he caught what he thought was the sound of a twig breaking. Ice blue eyes scanned the surrounding area, searching for whatever had made that sound. He expected to see a dragon, or Astrid or Fishlegs emerging from the bushes looking for them, or maybe even another fearling, but the scenery was still, not even the Wind rustling the leaves.

"Hey Jack, come on! What's the hold up!" Hiccup shouted back, grabbing Jack's attention.

"Nothing," Jack called to him, eyes lingering for just a moment more before he was in the air and following Hiccup again. "Just thought I heard something.

They heard a fight up ahead. Hiccup signaled for Jack to slow down as he and Toothless slipped into the shadows, ready to launch a surprise attack on whoever it was that Astrid and Fishlegs were fighting. Jack went high, concealing himself in the treetops with Baby Tooth nestled on his shoulder so the buzz of her wings wouldn’t give them away.

Swiftly but silently they crept forward, until they could see five figures moving around in the mist. A low growl rose in Toothless's throat as they closed in on the figures. He opened his jaw, prepared to fire a warning shot when...

"Argh! I can't believe you!"

...Astrid?

Her cry of outrage was followed up by a series of pained grunts and yelps. Hiccup was fairly sure he knew those pained sounds. He heard them almost every time the twins fought. Toothless swallowed his unlaunched plasma blast and then let out a confused huff. Eyebrow raised, Hiccup urged him forward, into the open.

He was relieved to find Astrid and Fishlegs unharmed, but surprised to find Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout present as well. Astrid had Tuffnut pinned to the ground – which was, strangely enough, littered with chicken bones – and she was assaulting him with... Was that a human bone? Hiccup blinked and rubbed his eyes, checking again to find, yep, that was indeed a human bone. Well, several human bones actually. Enough to make an arm and a hand.

Ruffnut snatched the arm from Astrid's hand as she swung back but instead of rescuing her brother she gave him a few extra whacks for good measure. When Ruffnut was finished Astrid yanked the arm back and smacked Tuffnut across the face one final time.

"Do I even want to know?" Hiccup asked. Turning on Snotlout he asked, "What are you even doing out here? I told you to take Trader Johann back to Berk!"

"Yeah, thanks for sticking him with us by the way!" Snotlout groused. "Don't worry about him. He's fine."

Somehow or other, Hiccup got the impression he was going to owe Johann an apology later.

Finally Astrid pulled herself off of Tuffnut, although she didn’t let go of the skeleton arm. With no muscle and sinew holding it together Hiccup assumed it must be fake. He hoped it was fake. Turning on Snotlout, Astrid smacked the arm into his stomach.

"Just so you know, I'm not going to forget this," she growled.

"Don't worry babe," Snotlout started, "If you get scared again you can hold my-"

SMACK!

Snotlout was cut off when a snowball – a non-magical white one – plowed right into his face. The twins' hysterical laughter at the sight was also silenced by two more snowballs which seemed to fly from nowhere and splatter across their faces. Astrid's eyes flew from Snotlout, to Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and she crossed her arms, flashing a satisfied smirk.

"You deserved that."

Hiccup shook his head as Jack floated down from his hiding place in the treetops to join the group. The twins frowned and Snotlout openly glared as they swiped the snow from their faces.

"Hey, what gives? I thought you liked pranks!?" Tuffnut asked, pulling himself to his feet before offering his sister a hand up.

"Well yeah, when they're actually fun," Jack replied with a shrug. "I dunno what you guys did, but Astrid looks really pissed."

"I still don't know what that means," Astrid said, "but thanks for getting these mutton-heads back for me."

Stormfly squawked, turning to glare at Barf-and-Belch, ((You-control-yours-wingless-bad-cruel-bad-game-I-nip-bite-punish-next-time-I-will.))

Barf-and-Belch huffed a single short response: ((Go-ahead.))

Addressing Snotlout and the twins, and ignoring Jack's seemingly random snickers, Hiccup asked, "I don't suppose you guys saw Johann's ship anywhere when you were flying in, did you?"

"Actually," Fishlegs started, surprising everyone. He’d been silent up until that point, attempting to get his breathing back under his control. "Astrid and I found it a little while ago. We were just waiting until you guys back to investigate."

"That's good to hear. How did you find it?"

"The anchor fell and nearly crushed Astrid."

"...Come again?"

Jack let out a low whistle at the sight of Johann's ship.

"Is it bad that I'm kind of impressed?" he asked. Baby Tooth shook her head.

Johann's vessel had definitely seen better days. The bottom of the ship was encrusted with bone-white barnacles and dried algae, suggesting it had been out of the water for some time. Planks of wood had been ripped from the hull, the surface of which was covered with numerous scratches and splinters. The mast of the ship was nowhere to be seen, though for a moment the teens had mistaken the tip of the large pine tree impaling the ship for the mast. As Fishlegs had said, the anchor had fallen from the ship which was the only reason they had even known where to find it. Jack half-imagined he could have climbed up the chain if he wanted.

"I'm pretty sure a fearling didn't drag it all the way up into that tree," Astrid commented. She grabbed a hold of Stormfly's saddle and placed her foot in the stirrup, hauling herself up without ever taking her eyes off of the decrepit sailing vessel.

"So what did?" Fishlegs asked. Noticing Snotlout open his mouth out of the corner of his eye, Fishlegs added, "If anyone says 'fog monster' I am getting on Meatlug and leaving."

"Well, who knows how it got up there. What matters is that chest my dad was after is up there," Hiccup said. "C'mon Toothless."

"It looks like a light breeze could knock that down," Jack commented as Hiccup mounted Toothless. "Maybe Baby Tooth and I should check it out?"

Hiccup had his mouth open to protest but Astrid spoke up before he could.

"Sounds good to me. That looks really unstable. Jack's the lightest person here, and Baby Tooth will fly, so they probably won't cause it to fall."

Raising an eyebrow, Hiccup half-jokingly asked, "Oh, I'm not the lightest one anymore?"

"Well you would be without that leg," Snotlout mumbled, earning an irritated look from Hiccup and outright glares from Astrid and Jack.

"Ignoring that..." Astrid muttered.

"I won't take too long." A gentle breeze came to life and wrapped around Jack, lifting him in the air. Hopefully the slight movement in the air wouldn’t upset the ship's balance.

"Remember, it's the chest with a Berk crest on it!" Hiccup called after Jack as he shot towards the ship.

"Got it!"

"Be careful!"

"Got it!"

The deck of the ship creaked faintly in protest as Jack touched down, but the ship remained where it was in the tree. Jack was tempted to remain airborne while he searched, but the fear that the Wind might accidentally knock the ship loose kept him from doing so.

"C'mon, let's make this quick," Jack said. Baby Tooth nodded in agreement.

A few crates were seated on the deck of Johann's ship. After examining each of them and determining that none of them were the chest Hiccup was looking for Jack moved below deck to continue the search.

"Something seem odd to you?" Jack asked as he examined his surroundings. Baby Tooth nodded.

((Yeah. It's a lot emptier than I expected. I'm pretty sure Johann had a lot more stuff than this last time.)) Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, Baby Tooth flew towards a barrel empty of its contents and perched on its rim. ((Jackie, take a look at this!))

At first Jack thought he already knew what she was pointing out; one of the metal bands holding the barrel together was missing, and it seemed like whoever took it tried to remove the other two as well. The wood bore numerous small scratch marks, as though from the claws of a terrible terror. As he approached, however, Jack saw that Baby Tooth was looking inside the barrel, at an empty scabbard and numerous handles to what Jack suspected used to be maces and axes. The wood had been snapped and gnawed off and the heads of each weapon was missing.

"Weird," he muttered, mostly thinking aloud. "You'd think a thief woulda taken the whole weapon. Why just the metal?"

The strangeness became even more apparent as they continued to explore the ship, Jack's staff lighting the way. Johann had a lot of items on his ship humans would find valuable; thick furs, strange statues and runes, maps of far off places, even gemstones! All untouched! Yet Jack and Baby Tooth continued to find barrels with their bindings ripped off, crates that had been pulled apart with the nails missing, dismantled weapons, and chests missing their hinges. There was hardly a scrap of metal anywhere to be found. Jack could only imagine what things were missing altogether.

"You don't suppose the Berk crest was made of metal, do you?" he asked, though he already suspected he knew the answer. If the chest was here at all the crest had probably long since been ripped out and carried off by whoever or whatever stole all of the metal. If only he knew what it was he was supposed to be looking for. He doubted searching the contents of each and every container would yield results.

"Let's go tell the others."

Baby Tooth had no chance to respond. Suddenly they heard the creak of wood and Jack whirled around, grip tightening on his staff. There was nobody there and he mentally kicked himself for being paranoid.

((Jack, look out!))

And then he was kicking himself again for not noticing the person who slid from the shadows and appeared behind him, holding a dagger to his throat.

"Make any sudden moves an' I'll slit yer pretty throat," a rough voice hissed in his ear. "Now, tell me whatcha doin' on my island?"

"You don't want to do this," Jack said, tensing as the person pressed the blade a little closer to his skin.

"An' why's tha-aaaaaaahhhhhhh!"

The assailant's growl turned into a surprisingly high pitched scream as Baby Tooth gathered as much of their tangled, mousy-brown hair in her tiny hands as she could and pulled. Hard. The dagger clattered noisily to the ground and Jack instantly kicked it off into the shadows somewhere. Whirling he leveled his staff on the person who had attacked him, only to find...

A girl, about his own age. His own physical age. The girl growled and spit and swiped at Baby Tooth but the frost fairy dropped her hair and flew out of the girl's reach before her grasping fingers could come close.

The moment her hair was free the girl launched herself towards Jack again. He leaped out of the way, icing the floor in an attempt to trip her up but she leaped over the patch of ice and dove for her jeweled dagger. Snatching up the weapon she whirled around again, dropping to a crouch as she smirked at him.

"You like tricks, don'tcha?"

"Hey, you attacked me first!"

"That's whatcha get for tresspassin' on my island!"

"I don't see your name on it!"

With an angry snarl the girl launched herself again, running up a stack of crates to avoid the ice patch. She jumped down at Jack from the top of the stack, dagger poised to strike, and he only barely swung his staff up in time to use it to block her from stabbing him in the face. Jack shoved her back before aiming his staff and firing a blast of ice magic. The girl's eyes went wide as the dagger was ripped from her grip and frozen to an empty crate behind her. Shock turned to anger and she fixed Jack with an unforgiving glare.

"Hey! I liked that dagger!" she protested.

"Well I like not being stabbed in the face!"

Although her eyes remained narrowed in anger, a slight smirk tugged at the strange girl's lips. Slowly she edged her way towards a barrel and Jack realized a moment too late that it was one of the ones full of dismantled weapons. The girl's smirk turned into a grin as she grabbed one and pointed the broken, splintered end at him.

"Oh come on!"

Again, she lunged. This time however a blur of blue and white whizzed in front of her face, halting her attack. The girl snarled as Baby Tooth whirled around her head and swung the handle wildly in an attempt to strike the frost fairy. Jack jumped forward, catching her ankle with the crook of his staff and yanking her foot out from under her. She went down but was not even stunned. Baby Tooth made a literal nosedive, aiming for the spot between the girl's eyes just as the girl rolled out of the way. She was on her feet in seconds while Baby Tooth ended up stuck in the wooden floor of the ship by her beak.

Before the girl had a chance to gloat Jack was in front of her. She tried to slam her weapon into the side of his head but he blocked with his staff and then raised his foot to kick her in the stomach, releasing a spurt of frost as he did.

"Oof!" She crashed into a pile of crates behind her, never losing her grip on her weapon. She took a moment to nurse her bruised backside – one of the containers had broken when she crashed into them and now she had splinters digging into her back – before looking up to find Jack before her, staff gripped tight in both hands with the crook pointed right at her face.

"Give up?" he asked, eyebrow raised. She gave him a smirk in response.

Suddenly the ship lurched. Jack's eyes flew wide open in panic and froze as the ship went still again. For a moment he thought it was over, but then the ship tilted and crates and chests and barrels were flying everywhere. Without thinking Jack grabbed a hold of the girl's arm, ignoring her protest, and yanked her up to her feet. He pulled Baby Tooth, as gently as he could in his haste, free from the wood as he sprinted towards the exit but it was already too late. The groan of wood gave way to a deafening crack and then the ship was falling.

The dragons looked anxious. Hiccup was too, if he were being perfectly honest, but he doubted it was for the same reasons. Stormfly was pacing in circles, narrowed eyes searching the mists while she raised and lowered the quills on her tail threateningly. The other dragons were sticking close to their riders, particularly Meatlug who was pressed against Fishlegs' side. Only Toothless had his eyes trained intently on the barnacle-encrusted ship up in the treetops. Every so often one of his head-fins would twitch and Hiccup wondered if he could hear Jack and Baby Tooth moving around in the ship above.

"It'll probably take them a while to search the entire ship." Astrid was standing next to Hiccup, watching his apprehensive expression out of the corner of her eye. "Maybe we should have a look around the area while we wait."

A derisive snort drew their attention and they turned to find Snotlout sneering at them.

"Sure, sounds like a perfect plan!" Shooting a look at Fishlegs, he continued, "That's when the fog monster gets you, ya know. When you split up, and you're all alone in the woods, easy pickings..."

The twins snickered maliciously at Fishlegs shudder, but Hiccup just rolled his eyes while Astrid glared at Snotlout.

"Snotlout, will you drop this ridiculous 'fog monster' thing?" Hiccup snapped.

"B-but..." Fishlegs' eyes darted every which way and he pressed even closer to Meatlug for comfort. "Didn't Jack say there could be something to the fog monster theory? I mean, we did see that fearling before..."

Snotlout blinked, his malicious grin falling. "You saw a what now?"

Before anyone could answer a very familiar sound reached Hiccup's ears; the sound Jack's magic made as he used it to form ice and snow, like icicles rattling against each other. His eyes shot back to the ship, but it remained seated where it was up in the tree and all fell silent again. If not for the fact that the others were staring as well, Hiccup might’ve thought it was just his imagination.

"I'm sure everything's fine," Astrid said in an attempt to reassure the group. Turning to Snotlout she continued, "Anyway, you remember those monsters we saw on Outcast Island? We saw another one here, before you guys showed up."

"There are more of those things!?" he cried, face going pale. The twins grew noticeably excited and Barf-and-Belch had to snap up the back of each of their tunics in his jaws to keep them from running off into the fog.

"Cool! Can we see it? Did you blow it up already?"

"No, you can't see it because yes, we did blow it up already." Toothless purred as Hiccup scratched the bottom of his chin in appreciation. "I mean, I guess there could be others out there, but we only saw the one, and it was weak."

"And no, before you ask," Astrid shot a glare at Snotlout whose mouth snapped shut at the expression she was giving him, "it couldn't have shipwrecked Johann and stuck his boat in the tree."

Suddenly they heard the creak of wood. All eyes shot skyward as the ship lurched, splintered pieces of tree trunk raining down on them. Wodensfang let out a pitiful cry, tiny wings flapping and claws digging into the earth as he watched the ship begin to tilt. Toothless was behaving much the same, wings flaring as he jumped up and down on the spot.

Hiccup threw himself into the saddle and immediately the two launched into the air, followed closely by Astrid and Stormfly. The other Riders and their dragons scrambled out from underneath the broken ship, Fishlegs pausing for just a moment to grab Wodensfang and pull him to safety. Tears appeared in the bark of the tree as the weight of the ship caused the trunk to begin to snap. The growing cracks slowed as Toothless's and Stormfly's claws dug into the hull of the ship, both dragons straining to support the weight even as gravity tried to rip it from their talons.

"Jack, get out of there!" Hiccup cried, unsure if Jack could even hear him. A giant pit formed in his stomach as he heard the wood splinter and the ship slipped from the dragons' grasp. Hiccup watched helplessly as it fell to the ground far below, taking a large chunk of the tree with it.

Pieces of the ship's hull shattered as the vessel hit the ground, landing on its side. Toothless and Stormfly landed right next to it, their Riders dismounting quickly and running straight towards the wreckage.

"Jack? Jack are you alright?" Hiccup called.

Cupping her hands around her mouth Astrid shouted, "If you're alive, say something!"

Several moments of silence passed before Hiccup grabbed the hull of the ship and pulled himself up. He was about to climb up the deck to the passage that lead to the storage compartment below when he heard a voice call out to him.

"I'm here! I'm not dead!"

"Oh thank gods. What happened in there?"

"Uh, I'll tell you in a minute. Quick question, do you have any rope? ...Never mind, I just found some!"

Hiccup's eyebrows scrunched in confusion and he turned towards Astrid, who merely shrugged in response. As he turned back he just barely saw the coil of rope fly out of the hatch before it smacked him in the face. Toothless goff goff goffed at him while he struggled to get his head untangled.

A few moments later Jack emerged from below deck, his pale face covered with dozens of tiny pink cuts. He sat at the edge of the hatch with an arm slung over his shoulder and a head resting on his chest. Hiccup couldn’t see the person's head from the wild mess of tangled hair spilling over their face, but from the sheer amount of it he guessed that the person was a girl and from her size he also guessed she was close to their age.

"Someone catch her please?" Jack called down.

Once the strange girl had been bound and her head injury treated – according to Jack a piece of debris had struck her head when the ship fell – Jack proceeded to tell them what had happened. Snotlout laughed openly when the ice elf described how she had attempted to bury her dagger in his skull, prompting Hookfang to ignite the seat of his pants. He received mostly irritated groans and looks of exasperation from the others as he ran in circles screaming. Fortunately for him, Jack was kind enough to douse the flames, although that left Snotlout with a very chilly butt.

"What about the chest?" Hiccup asked after Jack had finished describing his encounter with the strange girl. "Did you see it anywhere?"

"I don't think so. Baby Tooth and I looked all over the ship, and, weirdest thing, it definitely looks like it was ransacked, but whoever did it only took things made of metal. Not just weapons but, like, screws and nails and hinges and stuff. If the chest is still on the ship the crest might've been ripped off of it."

"Well that's just perfect," Hiccup groaned, running a hand through his hair. Toothless crooned, pressing his muzzle against Hiccup's head to comfort him.

Once again Hiccup threw a look at their prisoner, wondering if she had anything to do with the theft. Then he shook his head. She had to. What else would she be doing up there? He wassn’t looking forward to looking through each and every chest on the ship.

"It's also possible that even if the chest is on the ship, whatever was in it was stolen," Fishlegs pointed out. "What if this thing we're looking for was made of metal?"

And there was also that. Hiccup ran his fingers through his hair again, this time tugging at the strands in an attempt to relieve tension.

"You keep doing that and you're gonna go bald," Jack teased. Baby Tooth chirped as though in affirmation and Hiccup let his hand fall into his lap. "Also, what's-her-face is awake."

Fifteen sets of eyes turned and settled on the strange girl, who had turned herself over and was in the process of crawling away from them like a caterpillar when she was caught. She froze, eyes flitting across the faces of the teens and their dragons, before flashing a sheepish smile.

"Heeeeey, fellas. What's up?"

She yelped as Astrid grabbed the back of her patchy tunic and hauled her to her feet.

"Start talking," Astrid growled as she removed her axe from her belt and held the edge to the girl's throat. Stormfly stood right behind her, jaw parted to show off her sharp teeth and quills raised in a threatening display. "Who are you, what are you doing here, and why did you attack my friend?"

"Name's Camicazi, Bog Burglar extraordinaire, I live here, and I wanted ta see if that magicky thing 'e did in the woods was real." Flashing Astrid a coquettish smirk, the girl – Camicazi – asked, "Now what's your name?"

Astrid dropped her.

"Ow!"

For the first time Hiccup really took in her appearance. She was taller than him, but then, so were most people his age. Multiple braids hung from her head, most of them loose with flyaway hairs and tangled with leaves and twigs. Dark brown eyes twinkled with mischief, despite how sunken they were, and her pale skin was splotched with dirt and, like Jack, she was covered in tiny cuts from when the ship had fallen. She seemed surprisingly thin, even compared to Hiccup, and it suddenly occurred to him to wonder if she was alone and how long she had been out here.

Her clothes seemed to suggest she had been on her own for a while. The tunic she wore was dark red with multiple faded spots and patched up in so many places it was difficult to tell how much of the original tunic remained. Her knee-high hide boots were covered with little nicks and scratches and the ragged, boar-skin cloak around her shoulders had the fur worn down in many areas.

"Well, now we know the truth behind the so-called fog monster," Astrid said, placing a hand on her hip and turning her disdainful expression from Camicazi to Snotlout. "I told you it was pirates."

Camicazi let out a derisive 'snrk.'

"Oh, there's a fog monster alright," she said, offering the Riders a toothy grin. "Or," she giggled, "A buncha lil' ones!"

Fishlegs eeped. "Fog monsters? As in plural as in there's more than one?" He turned to Jack, eyes wide with fright. "Didn't you say you heard lots of voices earlier?"

"Yeah, but I haven't heard much since then."

Glaring, Astrid lowered her axe until the edge was inches from Camicazi's nose. "Where are the rest of your people? You must have a camp set up somewhere."

Considering the position she was in, Camicazi appeared remarkably unconcerned. She yawned, ignoring the irritated growl that rose from Astrid's throat, before answering, "Nope, just me and the fog monsters. An' that's the way I like it, so if you lot could clear out, that'd be great." She paused for a moment, and then added, "Well, I guess you can stay if ya want, but only 'cause you're pretty."

Astrid raised an eyebrow and exchanged a bewildered look with her dragon.

"Look, we're not planning on staying," Hiccup cut in. "We were just looking for something that was supposed to be delivered to Berk."

"That chest with your crest on it right? Bet it's long gone by now." At Hiccup's questioning look she rolled her eyes and added, "You lot aren't exactly quiet. I listened to ya jabber on for a bit before I tried to slip away. I'm normally better at escapes than that."

"Where is the chest?"

Smirking, Camicazi said, "Fog monsters prolly stole it."

Again, Fishlegs ‘eep’ed. He failed to notice the twins slipping towards him and when Ruffnut blew on the back of his neck he let out a shriek and jumped nearly out of his skin. The twins and Snotlout howled with laughter as he attempted to catch his breath and will his heart rate back to normal, leaning on Meatlug for support.

"Not funny you guys!" he whined. This only caused them to laugh harder.

"Men, amirite?" Camicazi scoffed. Then, after a slight pause, "The twins there are boys, right? Or are they girls?"

"Tuffnut's a boy, Ruffnut's a girl," Hiccup said as he pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

Eyes going wide, Camicazi looked from the twins, to Jack, and then to Hiccup. "So you're telling me that one of those two's a girl," she gave a nod towards the twins, "but this one," she jerked her head in Jack's direction, "is a boy? An' here I thought your lot couldn't get any stranger."

"Hiccup, we're not getting anywhere with this," Astrid cut in. "We need to find your dad's chest before nightfall."

"You're right. Astrid, Jack, and I will search the ship again to see if we can find the chest. Fishlegs, Snotlout, and twins, you guys take your dragons and search the island. See if you can find Camicazi's camp, or anyone who might have looted the ship and stolen the metal."

"Um..." Fishlegs fidgeted. "Why do I have to go into the creepy forest with the – we now know – multiple fog monsters?"

"To keep an eye on the twins." Fishlegs looked like he was about to protest again, but Hiccup was already addressing Astrid and Jack. "We'll leave our dragons out here to watch Camicazi while we're searching the ship."

"Maybe I should leave Baby Tooth out here as well," Jack suggested. The frost fairy chirped in protest, but he continued, "That way if something happens we'll know right away."

Hiccup remembered Jack had once said that he could occasionally see what Baby Tooth was seeing and nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea. Alright everyone, you've got your jobs. Let's get going."

Snotlout mounted Hookfang and took off, followed closely by the twins and a very reluctant Fishlegs. Jack helped Astrid and Hiccup climb up to the hatch of Johann's ship, flying up himself first and then letting them hold the crook of his staff so he could pull them up one at a time. Soon Camicazi was left alone with one nightfury, one deadly nadderhead, one terrible terror, and one frost fairy. All four glared at her as she sat there, arms tied behind her back and knees drawn up to her chest. She stared back at them blankly.

"'Sup?"

When the ship fell from the tree almost everything inside had been thrown, leaving piles and piles for the three of them to look through. Piles of smashed, broken boxes, splintered wood digging into their skin and drawing blood. Astrid suggested that Jack frost over the containers they had already looked through to make sure they didn’t end up searching in the same spots over and over again and he agreed.

Even with the searched containers frozen together in a gigantic block of ice, it seemed like there was always more. Hiccup had no idea how long the three of them spent digging through the wreckage. It was near silent, except for the occasional soft growl of one of the dragons outside and Jack's faint humming. It was eerie inside the ship. Despite his skepticism towards the entire 'fog monster' theory Hiccup couldn’t deny that the ruined ship gave him the chills, but the wordless tune was comforting so he focused on that as he searched for his father's chest.

If only he knew how big or small the chest was. Or what it looked like. Or what was in it. What if the chest contained the rest of his mother's armor and whoever stole the rest of the metal on the ship had already made off with it?

"We've searched every inch of this ship. I don't think the chest is in here," Astrid said with a resigned sigh. Hiccup was inclined to agree, although it pained him to do so. He wasn’t looking forward to returning to Berk and facing his father empty handed. At least they could return Johann's ship, even if it was slightly banged up. Maybe that would be enough to keep Stoick from killing him for sneaking off again.

"Bet the others are back by now." Jack, as usual, was trying to keep the overall mood positive. "Maybe they found something."

Snotlout and the others hadn’t returned by the time Astrid, Hiccup, and Jack emerged from the wreck. Hiccup was unsure why, but he was somewhat surprised to see that Camicazi was still there. It seemed she’d dozed off in the time they’d been searching inside the ship and Wodensfang was curled up on her stomach, little puffs of white smoke rising from his nostrils.

"Not gonna lie," Jack started, giving voice to Hiccup's thoughts, "I kind of expected her to escape somehow."

((Wild-wingless-talk-talk-talk-too-much-tired-weak-hungry-she-act-strong-tired-weary-she,)) Toothless crooned somewhat sadly, eyes still trained on the self-proclaimed bog burglar. Jack's expression softened the slightest bit.

"We're not going to be able to get back to Berk before the sun sets," Astrid pointed out. "We should probably set up camp for the night."

"We didn't bring any camping supplies," Hiccup said.

"We can use stuff from the ship," Jack suggested. "It's wrecked anyway, I bet Johann won't notice the difference."

Nodding along, Astrid added, "And we did bring fresh water. We can have our dragons help us catch enough fish for dinner so we don't go hungry while we're here."

It sounded like a good plan. Hiccup nodded, casting Camicazi one final parting look before they started to work setting up the camp.

By the time they heard the rush of wings overhead that signaled the return of the other dragon riders the camp had already been set up. Jack had collected as many of Johann's furs as he could find to use as bedding material while Astrid and Hiccup had collected enough fish to feed all eight teens as well as the dragons. They cooked the fish over a small fire lit by Wodensfang and immediately offered some to Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins as they dismounted their dragons.

"Finally! I'm starving!" Snotlout said as he accepted a toasted salmon.

The teens gathered around the campfire and eagerly dug into their meals while their dragons gathered around the massive pile of fish that had been set aside for them and dug into that. Poor Wodensfang had difficulty getting past the much larger dragons so Jack gave the tiny dragon his own untouched salmon when no one was paying attention.

Once everyone else had been fed Astrid turned to Fishlegs and asked, "Did you guys find anything while you were searching the island?"

"Mm-hmm." Fishlegs swallowed his mouthful of fish, already working on his third salmon, and continued, "It was weird. We were flying overhead when we saw something that looked like a cloud flying through the forest."

Exchanging malicious snickers with her brother, Ruffnut chimed in, "It was hilarious. As soon as Fishlegs saw it he started shrieking and tried to run away."

"I did not!"

"Anyway, while Chicken-legs and those mutton-heads were fooling around," Snotlout cut it, "I swooped in and chased after the fog monster. You shoulda seen Hookfang an' I. We were fast, we were dangerous, and we had that thing running for its life-"

((Fly-fly-fly-we-hunt-together-chase-in-circles-we-hunt-fog-creature-faster-sneakier-sad-ashamed-I,)) Hookfang corrected. The monstrous nightmare huffed, glaring off at some point in the distance.

((Shadow-monsters-small-weak-cowards-run-run-run-away-fog-creatures-not-so-they-tricky-circle-we-chase-them-they-chase-us,)) Meatlug added. ((Walking-Fish-scared-afraid-I-protect-him-protect-Love-I-did-I-will.))

So there were more fearlings on the island after all. Jack nodded towards the dragons, realizing only at that moment that the human members of the group were still talking. He attempted to refocus on their conversation, but by this point he was completely lost.

"So is it settled?" Hiccup was saying.

Jack blinked.

"Is what settled?" At the strange looks he received he said, "Sorry, I was listening to Hookfang and Meatlug." Turning to Snotlout he added, "Hookfang says you're full of crap."

"Hey!"

Hiccup ignored his cousin's indigence as he told Jack, "We're going to be sleeping in shifts just in case whatever these guys saw in the fog comes this way, or another fearling shows up. Also so we can keep an eye on Camicazi."

"She's awake, by the way," Jack said.

"Darn it!" The bog burglar jolted upright. "How!?"

Everybody ignored her.

"Why don’t I just keep watch the whole night?” Jack offered. “I don’t need much sleep anyway, and that way everybody will be fully rested tomorrow.”

"Are you sure?” Hiccup asked. "You don’t have to-"

“Works for me!” Snotlout cut Hiccup off. Gesturing to his face, he said, “This much beauty needs plenty of beauty rest!”

“You might be due for a nice coma,” Jack teased, earning a glower.

Astrid cut the brewing argument off before it could begin, shooting both Snotlout and Jack stern looks. The Riders of Berk quickly retired after that, getting comfortable on Johann's furs while Jack flew to the treetops overhead to take watch.

The forest seemed almost peaceful at night. Hiccup lay on his back, on arm tucked under his head and the other slung across his chest. His eyes were trained on the sky overhead, but there wasn’t much to look at with the ever present mist blotting out the moon and stars.

Try as he might, he was unable to fall asleep. Toothless lay curled up next to him, wings tucked around his body, tail slung across Hiccup's, and belly rising and falling in time with his slow breaths. Even with the fire doused and Breakneck Bog's constant chill, Toothless helped Hiccup keep plenty warm.

Yet, sleep just wouldn’t come. Rolling on his side, he stared out into the darkness until his eyes had adjusted and he could make out the silhouette of the ice elf perched on a precariously thin tree branch. Like Hiccup a few moments prior, Jack's eyes were trained on the sky overhead. He seemed fairly relaxed, considering a wild, feral, crazy, bog-girl had attempted to take his life earlier, leaning against the trunk of the tree with one hand resting on the branch above his hand and his staff held loosely in the other. Hiccup wondered what Jack was thinking about.

"Can't sleep?" Hiccup stiffened. Did Jack notice he’d been staring? Could he, in the dark? What if Jack could see in the dark? When Jack craned his neck to look over his shoulder, however, he didn’t look annoyed or uncomfortable. He flashed Hiccup a kind smile and said, "You're gonna be tired tomorrow."

"Eh, I wasn't falling asleep anyway." Hiccup sat upright, rubbing his eye. "Might as well stay up 'til I get tired."

Gingerly, Hiccup took hold of Toothless's tail and set it aside. The nightfury let out a low whimper in his sleep that turned into a happy purr when Hiccup gave his head a gentle pat. Once his partner had drifted back into a calm sleep, Hiccup pulled himself up and made his way – clumsily, tripping more than once on tree roots and uneven earth – over to the tree Jack was perched in.

“You okay?” Jack asked in response to a startled yelp and the snapping of twits. Hiccup grabbed for something to support himself and sighed in relief when his hand hit the trunk of Jack’s tree.

“Fine,” he answered as he righted himself. “What are you looking at?”

“The moon,” Jack answered. Several moments of silence passed, during which Hiccup realized that Jack probably couldn’t see the confused look on his face and Jack realized Hiccup probably couldn’t see something else altogether. “I can always see it. Doesn’t matter what time of day it is, or what the weather’s like, or even what phase it is. To me, it’s always bright and full.”

“Huh.” Leaning against the tree, Hiccup stood on his good foot as he reached down to adjust the prosthetic that had gotten pulled slightly loose when he’d tripped. “That’s interesting.”

Jack shrugged. “Dunno why it happens, but I figure it has something to do with Manny turning me into… this.”

The only sound for several moments was the sound of Hiccup’s prosthetic as he fixed it back into place, and then once that was complete all was silent, save for the sounds of the dragons and Vikings snoring nearby. Hiccup wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the other finally spoke.

"Are you sure you have no idea what's in that chest?"

Hiccup blinked, eyes flicking towards the boy standing on the tree branch.

"Pretty sure if I did I'd've remembered by now." Hiccup had wracked his brain trying to figure out what it could be, and come up with nothing. Something from his mother. That could be anything. A sharp pain stabbed through his heart as he realized he barely remembered anything about her.

Jack shot Hiccup a sympathetic glance, one that went unnoticed by the scrawny Viking. Before Hiccup could notice he flashed a sincere smile and said, "Well, whatever it is, we won't stop looking until we find it."

It was funny how, despite controlling ice and snow, Jack had the almost innate ability to inspire such feelings of warmth. Hiccup couldn’t honestly say he had much faith in this quest he’d dragged his friends on. Especially after seeing the state of Johann’s ransacked ship. But the confidence in Jack’s voice was almost contagious, and for a brief moment he thought he could feel it too.

"Right. Of course we will." Hiccup smiled, gaze returning to the clouds. "Let's just hope we manage to find it before my dad sends out a search party."

Chuckling, Jack said, "Yeah, it's too bad we don't have a map showing us which way to go, 'X' marks the... spot..." Jack trailed off, eyes going wide before he palmed his forehead. "Oh. Duh!"

"Jack?"

"Hiccup, the compass!"

Eyes going wide in realization, Hiccup looked down at the useless ornament dangling from the cord around his neck. By now he’d grown so used to the weight that he’d nearly forgotten the compass was even there. Jack leaped from his perch, landing gracefully in front of Hiccup as he ran his thumb over the intricate carvings.

Ever since Outcast Island the compass had been dormant. Although the dragons on the outside still danced then Hiccup opened the compartment and the animals inside continued to chase each other in endless circles, the star's glow remained dim and the needle spun freely, directionless. Now, however, the star glowed brightly, pulsing like a heartbeat, and the needle was fixed on a single point. Just to make sure Hiccup turned and tried pointing the compass in different directions, but the needle consistently pointed him in the same direction.

Turning to Jack, Hiccup asked, "Do you think it really...?"

He didn’t want to get his hopes up too soon. He still had no idea how the compass was supposed to work.

"It lead Heather to her parents," Jack pointed out. "Maybe it only works if there's something you desperately want to find." 'Like the Mirror of Erised,' he almost added, before deciding he didn’t want to have to explain the reference to Hiccup. "I just wish I'd thought of it earlier."

"Hey, I didn't think of it either. I actually kinda forgot about this thing until now," Hiccup admitted, somewhat sheepishly. Something he desperately wanted to find, huh? Well, it was a good theory, at least. Better than anything Hiccup himself had come up with. "I guess we'll give it a try, bright and early tomorrow morning."