Chapter Text
Erik the Red was a liar.
That was Hiccup's first thought as the icy wind stung his cheeks, sending a shiver down his spine. Their ancestor had promised green fields and rolling pastures if they travelled west. Hiccup hoped they could discover new types of dragons, oh, how naive he was. The “Green Land” of potential - the irony almost made him laugh. Instead, they were caught in a blizzard mid-summer. Cold seeped into his bones, and sleet covered Toothless' wings, weighing them down. Hiccup gritted his teeth, glancing at the sky as he steered Toothless, and decided he had a few choice words for Erik in Valhalla.
Astrid flew by his side, Stormfly struggling to keep them upright. "Hiccup!" She shouted, her voice barely carrying over the wind, "Which way do we go?!"
Hiccup pressed his lips together and checked the sunstone. He rotated it and held it up to the grey sky, and tried to align the shadows. But the sun was gone. Either it had vanished or centuries of navigation were based on a lie - both impossible. Did this weather make light behave strangely? The storm must be too heavy for sunlight to break through.
For a fleeting moment, Hiccup could almost see fear in Astrid’s eyes, which only made his chest tighten. "Go back to the others!” He yelled over the roaring winds, “Tell them to fly the way we came!" He prayed to Odin that he wasn't leading them all to their deaths. "I'll look for a place to land!"
Astrid hesitated. It looked like she had a lot more to say, her fists clenching Stormfly’s reins. All that came out was. “Don’t die on me, you moron!”
Hiccup gave her the best reassuring smile he could muster. Her eyes lingered on him for another moment before hardening, steering Stormfly back towards their friends.
Hiccup let out a shaky sigh, shoulders slumping. He had no idea how he was going to get out of this. If they didn't make it out, he would never forgive himself for bringing them here with naive hopes of finding new dragon species. He patted Toothless’ neck, put on his helmet, and adjusted the tailfin to gliding position to descend; the gears ground rigidly. But the clouds below never seemed to end, surrounding them in a blizzard. He couldn't see ahead, snow thrashing down harder than before. Toothless shot out a burst of plasma, but even that didn’t hit anything, as if there was no ground beneath them.
Hiccup decided it would be wiser to regroup before he crashed into something. When he pressed his foot down to shift gears and ascend, his veins felt like they were filled with Arctic slush. The pedal moved, but it was dead; no crisp click of gears and leather. He turned back, eyes wide, to confirm that Toothless' tailfin was frozen solid. A sickening crunch followed - the sound of leather turned to glass.
Toothless warbled, confusion in his tone. Hiccup leaned down, feeling their unstoppable descent towards the ocean become steeper. "I-It's okay, bud," He couldn't control his pounding heart. "We've been through worse, right?"
Toothless growled, attempting another plasma blast, but for the first time, it dissipated before it left his mouth. The dragon whined, which scared Hiccup even more. This was not supposed to be possible; there was no way it was that cold.
Hiccup cursed himself for not building that wingsuit. The biting wind tugged at them, and all he could think of was his best friend plummeting alongside him. Clouds shredded away, revealing blinding white and blue land below. Toppling them downwards, falling too fast for wings to catch air and pull them up. Toothless trembled - Hiccup couldn’t tell if it was from cold or fear. Maybe both
“No way-” He reached for Inferno, “I can’t-” planning to melt the tailfin. “There has to be some way-” He thumbed the ignition, expecting the hiss of Monstrous Nightmare saliva setting aflame. Instead, with a hitched breath, he realized the saliva had frozen.
Hiccup clenched a fist in his hair. He’d always found something, some crazy, reckless trick to survive. They had beaten the Red Death. Yet a mere blizzard was going to kill them.
As a last resort, Hiccup considered jumping off to lessen Toothless’ burden. Instead, he yelped as Toothless suddenly threw him off and grabbed him with his claws, covering him with his wings. A last-ditch attempt to shield his rider. Hiccup stayed surprised for only a moment before settling, his dragon's warmth against him.
What a brilliant, self-sacrificing creature. Like rider, like dragon.
Hiccup sighed, and a hysterical laugh bubbled out of him. For a moment, the absurdity of everything - the blizzard, the broken tailfin, the lie of green land - threatened to pull him under. But as the laughter faded, a chill clarity swept over him. If this was where things ended, he owed Toothless more than dread. He rubbed his hand on the scaly neck, "I'm so glad I met you, Toothless." He said, receiving a roar in reply. Toothless looked down at him, smiling gummy. Something in Hiccup's chest tightened, pressing urgency through the fear. No, he refused to surrender this easily. Even now, hope flickered beneath the panic. Hiccup squared his shoulders, suddenly determined - he and Toothless would survive, somehow. He hoped that they would meet again in Valhalla if they didn't make it out, but as long as there was breath in his body, he would fight for one more chance.
Hiccup closed his eyes. A strange, unnatural calm filled his chest as the ground came closer. He thought of Berk, the weight of his father’s hand on his shoulder, the mother he never met - it was drowned out by the splitting winds around them. He wiped a tear as it fell, unable to give up entirely; some part of himself still looked for a solution. The next seconds stretched on for what felt like minutes. The distant colours of what could only be spikes of ice and fields of icebergs became clearer. There was no way to soften their fall. The pillars twisted and turned, resembling menacing towers, nothing like what Hiccup had ever seen. For a beat, he was almost excited that it could be the work of a dragon, but the quickly approaching ground sobered him.
Erik the Red, that no-good, filthy liar, Hiccup couldn't believe he fell for it.
They crashed.
Everything was white.
Hiccup sat up and gulped down air as if he hadn’t breathed in years. He clutched his heart - still beating, miraculously. It might’ve all been a nightmare, but the groaning pain in his arm and good leg said otherwise. The cold still bit at his fingers, though not as harshly as before. His vision adjusted slowly, but the blinding white didn’t dissipate.
He startled backwards, hitting the scaly mass behind him, which he could instantly tell was Toothless by his snoring. Hiccup blinked once, then again, then one more time for good measure.
A child stood in front of him, if he could call it one. Its skin was translucent, almost glowing, covered in tiny fern patterns of ice, and its short hair was made of powdery snow. Its wide eyes and grin made it look like it had seen around twelve winters, but he wasn’t sure. Hiccup could only stare wide-eyed; everything around it, its clothes, the buildings, the clearing they were in, was made of ice. Then it spoke, the sound like Snoggletog bells, “He’s finally awake!”
More of the ice-things came running. They giggled, surrounding Hiccup and Toothless, flanking them, some pulling out walrus-ivory horns and playing a bouncy, childish tune. Others joined, children thumping huge drums of ice, the sound like cracking icebergs. The rest danced around in giddy circles, their feet clinking against the icy ground in melodic rhythm. Hiccup’s headache only worsened.
The first ice-child Hiccup saw, vaguely resembling a boy, tilted his head and smiled wider. “My name is Jamie! What’s yours?”
“Hic-” He cleared his throat, it was like he hadn’t spoken in weeks, “My name is Hiccup.” He smiled back, though the confusion made it crooked. “Where- Where am I?”
Jamie giggled, “You’re weird. This is home! Where else could we be?” His snowy brow raised in thought for a second, “You’re not from here, though… Hm…” He seemed genuinely perplexed, and Hiccup rubbed his temple. He was finally going crazy, wasn’t he? “We’ve had visitors… Never! You’re the very first!”
Hiccup shook his head, but it made his brain feel even more scrambled. He tried to stand, but instead he tripped, only then noticing his missing prosthetic; likely lost in the wreckage. Hiccup groaned in pain and leaned on Toothless’ sleeping form as he stood, taking in the damage. His heart hurt looking at his state - torn wings, bloodied face, and his prosthetic tailfin completely shattered. All of which meant they won’t be going anywhere before Toothless heals and Hiccup can fix his tailfin. A few ice-children poked at Toothless with icicles before Hiccup shooed them off like flies, wincing from the movement. Others tried to touch the blood leaking down his arm, but his flinch made them laugh.
“How did we survive…?” He muttered, more to himself than any of the ice-children around him.
Jamie answered him anyway. “You got really lucky, you know! If our prince wasn’t there to cushion your fall, you would have fallen on our towers!”
“Prince…? Towers? Thor almighty, I’ve finally lost it...” He turned to Jamie and reached out to confirm. His fingers recoiled as if burnt, but indeed, a child of ice and snow stood before him, and even more were still dancing and playing tunes around him. What was stranger was the fact that he was still alive. Beat up and aching, but stubbornly alive. Maybe something - someone - did save him.
Jamie kept smiling despite Hiccup’s muttering, “Haven’t you heard of our prince?” Hiccup slowly shook his head, sitting back down in shock. “He goes by many names - Winter Spirit, Frostman, Jokul Frosti.” He paused, making a deeper mockingly serious voice, “Nowadays we call him Jack Frost, Prince of the Winter Kingdom!”
Hiccup sat straight, staring at his hands for a second, trying to take all of this in - whatever this is. He’s heard of trolls and frost giants, his father used to scare him with stories of Fenrir and sirens, but Jokul Frosti? The last time he believed in something like that, he was five, and he could bet his friends never believed in him at all. The mischievous spirit who brought frost and winter seemed to just be a fairytale for children. However, given the kingdom of ice and the children who inhabit it, the stories did not do justice to Jokul.
He reached out again, this time resting his hand on Jamie’s snowy hair. The cold burned real against his palm, and the snow melted slightly at his touch.
“That tickles!” Jamie laughed, but didn’t move from his spot. The kid looked, moved, and spoke like a regular child, yet something was deeply wrong. His smile was too wide, as if this child never known fear in his life. Did they even know what heat was? Were they aware they could melt?
A wisp of wind caught Hiccup’s neck, but it was strangely comforting. Small, shimmering snowflakes urged him to look upwards.
“Jokul Frosti…?” Hiccup whispered. Up in the grey sky, he saw him.
He carried a shepherd’s staff, looking like the monarchs Hiccup heard stories about from traders. A sapphire blue cloak fluttered in the wind, its scalloped edges unnecessarily luxurious compared to the straight cuts the Viking was used to. Long sleeves flowed with a streamer of white fabric attached to his upper arm, resembling falling snow. Showing off his lithe frame was a long fitted tunic, which was definitely not built for this cold. And oh gods, those ridiculous tights - or was it hose? - that were torn to reveal bare feet.
Hiccup stared with an open mouth at the snow white hair and pale skin, flying in quick, agile circles in the air. Twirling his staff, the young man conjured bursts of ice that transformed into a swirling castle tower.
Hiccup wasn’t sure whether to run or kneel as the regal figure turned towards him. Even at this distance, his icy eyes shone and crinkled at the sight of the Viking. Jack flew down, his feet sliding against the ice and stopped just short of barrelling into Hiccup.
“You’re alive!” His voice was as bright as a winter morning, a grin splitting his face. Up close, Jack looked Hiccup’s age. Frosted patterns spread along his clothes, and he had a twinkle of snowflakes surrounding him at all times.
Hiccup reached out without thinking, eyes wide and mouth agape. “How is this…” He made contact with the velvet cloak, then the delicate wrist. It was solid, yet there was no warmth, and after a few seconds, no heartbeat either. Jack let out a chuckle that startled Hiccup out of his thinking. “Oh- uh- sorry-”
“I don’t mind.” His grin only grew wider, and his hands caught Hiccup’s trembling one. Jack’s hand felt like needles prickling his skin.
“Good thing I spotted you falling through the sky! Another second and you could’ve been a goner.” Then, like a kid describing an adventure, he mimicked the movement of a sleigh. He pointed at a ramp of ice behind them. “You slid down that and then pshooo-” His hand arched, “You flew into a pile of snow!” Jack grinned, “But I forgot humans are more fragile than the icelings, so I misjudged, sorry.” He chuckled despite the apology. He let go of Hiccup’s hand, which was painfully white where he was touched.
Jack ignored Hiccup’s wincing and rubbed his chin. “Hm… I don’t remember if…” With a tight smile, he backed off, as if burned by his own thoughts. Shaking his head, he poked Hiccup’s forehead, “You look like you’ve never seen snow before.” Hiccup was about to ask how, what, or why any of this was happening, and whether he was dead, which was becoming more likely. Then Jamie interrupted.
“Your highness! Can we give him the royal welcome?” Jamie was jumping on his toes, clinking like bells. “Please, please, please?!”
Jack laughed and finally let go of Hiccup’s hand. He walked to Jamie and ruffled his hair, the handprint in the child's hair smoothing out. “It’s not usually for humans but…” He smiled slyly, “I guess I can allow it.”
The other icelings jumped in excitement, running around to get in position. As Hiccup took a moment to collect his thoughts amidst the commotion, he shivered again, feeling the numbness in his fingertips. A minute later, a horn was sounded from afar. Only then did Hiccup snap out of his haze and notice where he was. Huge ice castles, spiralling towers, and entire towns of snow populated by more of the icelings surrounded the plaza they were in. Cathedrals and fortresses mimicked the ones Hiccup only heard of in his father’s stories of the south. Hiccup’s breath left him, suddenly feeling small compared to the grand structures. Though the more he looked, the more panic he felt. There was nothing here, no metal, no wood, not even a rocky surface, just ice and ocean everywhere he looked. He had no idea how they were going to fix the tailfin, much less survive.
Jack laughed and flew upward, snowflakes following him. Raising his staff, a gust of wind howled and brought down gentle snow. The castles began to glow with a blue tint, prompting the icelings to begin singing and playing instruments, the melody chipper and sharp like icicles.
Blood rushed to Hiccup’s ears, unable to make out the words. Instead, all he could look at was Jack, who flew across the plaza, his staff leaving toys of ice in its wake, much to the delight of the children. They danced in joy, disjointed but innocent, as Jack twirled to the music.
A rumble pulled Hiccup out of his stupor. Toothless groaned behind him, eyes blinking open only to narrow again. Warbling, he tilted his head, looking just as confused as Hiccup felt. It was strange for him to be so distracted, as if something in the air kept pulling his attention to the fun, to forget how dire their situation really was.
“I don’t know what’s going on either, bud.” Hiccup muttered, hand on Toothless’ snout. The ramp that saved their lives suddenly had children on it, riding sleighs and laughing, the sound echoing throughout the frosty city. Jack bounced in the air, creating even more slides for them to jump from. Magic, Hiccup realised, was the word he refused to say out loud.
Hiccup let out a shaky, misty breath. The beautiful ice did nothing to stop the shivering in his spine. He wiggled his toes inside his boot and felt nothing but pins and needles, the beginnings of numbness creeping up his foot. Toothless didn’t look any better, trembling in a way that was unnatural to dragons; even his breath came out in weak, wavering puffs, the usual jet of smoke thinning and vanishing before it reached the air. Between their injuries and the deepening chill, an uneasy pressure began to settle in Hiccup’s chest. Then a thought settled in his mind, a horrible, panicking thought, made worse by the tingling in his fingertips.
They had to get out of here, or the cold would kill them.