Chapter Text
"This is Berk. It snows nine months of the year. We are Vikings. But not just any kind, because we have—"
"ENCHANTEDS!" yelled Ruffnut and Tuffnut at the same time, pushing him off the platform toward the ground, making his prosthetic leg catch in a gap between the boards and causing him to practically fall on his face. Fortunately, Toothless extended his wing to catch him before he could embarrass himself in front of the group he was supposed to be addressing and fulfilling his role as future chief.
"Thanks, buddy," he sighed, scratching behind Toothless's fin, who offered a toothless smile.
"A long time ago—" began Ruffnut, gesturing with her hands as if looking at something beyond the crowd, but Tuffnut elbowed her.
"It was last year!" he corrected, smiling like a lunatic. "The enchanteds appeared, curious about our recent friendship with these incredible creatures that are the dragons!"
Hiccup looked at Toothless, crossing his arms over his chest. The dragon let out a skeptical but appreciative rumble.
"I also think it's going less awfully than it could," he muttered, and Toothless laughed.
"At first, we thought it was an attack, but North offered us gifts and some good mead right off the bat!" Tuffnut continued.
"And an alliance!" Ruffnut added, excited, making the people smile as they listened.
"Terms were set. Agreements made! Visits to both lands! We realized we'd get along great!" Tuffnut tapped his foot rhythmically on the platform, a melody Hiccup already knew since it was the same one North sang whenever he showed up.
"And now—" Ruffnut clasped her hands together. "Our dear friend—"
"Our brother from another realm!" Tuffnut interrupted again.
"Why did we let them be the ambassadors to the Northern Kingdom again?" Hiccup muttered to himself. Toothless grumbled, without a clear answer.
"Yes! Our brother will come as an ambassador and also as a squire to our dear one-legged friend!" Ruffnut pointed at Hiccup with both hands.
The audience turned to stare at him. Heat rose from his chest to his face, a chill running down his spine.
"Okay! Very good! Congratulations! But that's enough, you two!" he pleaded, irritated, climbing onto the platform. "Get down from here right now!"
"We are the official ambassadors! We should be the ones giving this speech to our archipelago allies!" Tuffnut complained, and Toothless nudged them away from the platform with his head, ignoring their grumbling.
Hiccup felt the audience's attention return to him and cleared his throat.
"Well, this is the reason we gathered everyone. We are going to introduce our new ally, and he will become our bridge between the archipelago and the Northern Kingdom. And no, no enchanteds. They are normal people." Hiccup felt his mouth go dry at the confused looks. "We will explain everything calmly during the celebration. You can make yourselves at home in the village."
"Can we see the dragons?" one of them asked, and Hiccup smiled a little more relieved than he should have. It was good to know Berk was still known for its dragons and battles.
He couldn't say how long that would last, however, given their new allies. To be honest, calling them 'enchanteds' seemed quite fair, but he refused to believe in such nonsense.
"Of course, we'll have battles in the arena today for entertainment," he smiled, and the people cheered excitedly as they dispersed.
Letting out a sigh and relaxing his shoulders, he stepped down from the platform only to deal with the chaotic duo waiting for him performatively: standing, arms crossed, and leaning their backs against Toothless, who was between them chewing on an especially large fish.
"At least pretend you're ashamed of being so easily bribed, you traitor," he huffed.
Toothless tossed the fish in the air and swallowed it, dropping down on all fours, and the twins stumbled from the lack of support — not that it stopped them from approaching Hiccup with accusing glares.
"We wanted to tell the whole story!" Tuffnut accused, poking a finger at his chest. "The people need to know what's happening in sordid detail!"
"The people need to know that there's an agreement with a new group, not that this group supposedly lives in scary stories that usually end in death and kidnapping. Telling your fantasy stories won't help at all!"
"You don't know what you're talking about, Mr. One-Leg! We could've even gotten you something better than that, you know? I'm sure North could carve something cooler!" Ruffnut said excitedly, kicking his prosthetic for emphasis, but without actually putting any force into it. "Like, one with Toothless's head, at least?"
"Certainly!" Tuffnut agreed, nodding.
Hiccup took a deep breath.
"Yeah. Very cool. Let's only talk about this magical factory with the dragon riders and the leaders, alright?"
"Wow, I hope Jack freezes your nose every day so you'll be less annoying!" Tuffnut hissed.
"Yes, sure. Your ice friend. Nothing scary or similar to the demons that want to invade our world." Hiccup walked past them, raising a hand to pet Toothless's head as he stepped beside him.
The twins caught up to him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ruffnut grabbed him by the shoulders from behind. "I don't like that attitude."
"What attitude?" Hiccup looked at her over his shoulder, furrowing his brows at an expression that was a bit too serious for the twins.
"You're not going to pull that with our dear friend, are you?" Tuffnut asked, crossing his arms over his chest again.
"Pull what?" Hiccup looked at them, confused.
"That prejudice right there!" Ruffnut let go of him and pointed at his nose. "Jack offered to come because he likes people and it would be easier for him to adapt. We don't want you making that face when he gets here!"
"Okay, fine. What face?" he tried to appease them, raising his hands in surrender.
"That prejudice right there." Tuffnut pointed at his eyebrows. "You look just like your dad. That huge wrinkle between your eyebrows. You look like you're about to start yelling about destruction and war at any moment."
"Alright," he said, gently pushing their accusing fingers away from his face. "First, I'm not my dad. Second, do you really expect me, of all people, to treat someone badly simply for being different?"
"You literally just compared him to an ice giant." Ruffnut lifted her chin.
"Even though Jack can, in fact, create ice. And create a huge one. But I don't think it could move..." Tuffnut considered. His sister's posture faltered as she entered that confusing spiral they shared again.
"I think it could move, but only if Jack stayed inside."
"But how would he breathe?"
"Guys!" Hiccup intervened, placing a hand on each of the twins' shoulders. "Out of everyone, I'm the last person you should worry about treating your friend weirdly, okay? I understand the concern, I think it's really cool, but besides everything this alliance means for our winter supplies that North offered us, I'm just not that kind of person."
The twins considered this, nodding.
"Focus on Astrid and Snotlout," he added with a smile, and the two looked at each other in astonishment, as if that hadn't even occurred to them.
Rushed, and as if they had no time to lose, they sprinted through the village, letting Hiccup breathe properly for the first time that day.
Toothless nudged his snout against his side.
"Nah, they'll be fine as long as they don't cross the line with Astrid. It's all good." He smiled, and Toothless rolled his eyes, but they walked together toward the hall.
The real truth was that Hiccup didn't believe a word the twins said. They were always telling stories and, aside from a brief and confusing spectrum of what the Northern Kingdom's inhabitants' personalities were like, he didn't think that fictional magic stuff actually existed.
Sure, their dragons must be quite different. They didn't just breathe fire, but they also had other forms. But they were definitely dragons. The twins were probably just trying to scare them by talking about the beasts' powers and attributing them to the tamer.
And, from what Hiccup knew, Jack had an ice dragon. Which was already a concern in itself since he was supposedly the one staying with them for a while in return for the time the Northerners hosted the twins. Astrid had a genuine fear that the choice was less about diplomacy and more about returning the problem Berk had sent first—which was heavily supported by Jack clearly being someone the twins related to. However, Hiccup disagreed a bit; after all, nobody in their right mind would let the twins go somewhere else on a diplomatic mission or to learn customs, but it was a specific request from North that they be the ones to go.
Hiccup just... didn't understand.
It made no sense at all. In all the diplomatic visits, the twins were nothing more than, well, the twins. Throwing questions around, creating theories, and, even if North and Sandy found it amusing and even humored their delusions, it still didn't seem like enough to give them official roles and welcome them into their kingdom.
But Hiccup had little room to complain or voice an opinion on that, since now, even taking on the risk of staying with the twins for months on end, the Northern Kingdom was sending its own ambassador along with provisions to help Berk and its allies survive the looming winter.
It just... seemed too good to be true.
"Your face looks terrible," Astrid said as she walked up from behind, throwing herself onto the bench beside him. "What's wrong? Don't want a squire?"
"You heard the twins' speech too," he muttered, dropping his forehead into his hand, and Astrid laughed.
"I thought it was cool that you now have a magical service that shoots ice out of its nose. When he starts freezing berries on a stick, call me over for a taste."
"They're getting too carried away," he huffed, looking at the Berkian crowd through his fingers. Everything still seemed to be in order.
For now.
The Northerners would only arrive at dusk. Hiccup had a very strange feeling thinking about it. Besides it making no sense to arrive close to nightfall for a celebration, there was also the question of how and where they were going to land.
Because they were going to land, right? Not arrive by ship.
"Hiccup," Astrid called, placing a hand on his shoulder, and he sighed as he drank some water and chewed on a piece of jerky that was way too salty. "Well, either way, at least we'll have something new around here. And it will be one guy against all of us. I don't see what could go wrong."
"I do," he muttered, thinking about a third twin entering his life, and a shiver made him tremble.
Astrid laughed uncontrollably, leaning against his shoulder.
"Well, it's not like we can turn back now. I just hope the same method that works with the twins works with this Jack guy."
The sleigh was being dragged out of the tunnels when Jack started laughing at Bunny slipping on the ice.
"Alright! Everyone loves this sleigh. But I have to remember that we're going to a… what was that thing?" Bunny asked anxiously, getting up with the help of Jack, who felt pity for his fumbling but didn't try to hide his laughter at all.
"Aurora something?" Jack tried, remembering the only part he had paid attention to because it had a pretty name.
"Aurora Vortex," North smiled, pulling the reindeer's reins. "As Sandy explained, it's an uncharted region that has never had contact with the rest of humanity. They still live in the Iron Age to this day." North let go of the reins and ran his hand over the sleigh, wiping away some dust. "Basically, compasses and systems break before getting close due to the high concentration of magic and also radiation, so anything that almost found them was diverted."
"And thanks to you, oh great Easter Bunny, now we know it exists," Jack mocked, climbing onto his staff like an owl perched on a curved branch. "And they have dragons. I'm only in this for them, just to be clear. Ruffnut and Tuffnut convinced me."
"They are adorable creatures!" North smiled, patting his own belly. "When me, Bunnymund, and Sandy went to check out that archipelago last year, we were enchanted!"
"You were enchanted, I only saw the teeth and the blasts of fire," Bunny huffed, leaning against the sleigh and crossing his arms. "And you have to stay alert, kid. There's fire and you're an ice cube. One wrong move and you melt."
"I'm touched by how much you love me, Bunny, but I think I'm a bit more resilient than that," he laughed, and Bunny kicked his staff to knock him down, but Jack just floated there lying down, resting his cheek on his hand. "So, how many months am I going to stay there?"
"We'll find out. The twins stayed here for three. I think we can start with that. If we can get those people to believe, we'll have a place to always draw power from and ensure the balance and protection of the children."
"It sounds really weird when you say it like that." Bunny furrowed his brows, and North looked at him, offended. "I'm serious. We aren't going there to colonize them and make a bunch of believing barbarians pass that belief onto us. We're going to help."
"Of course! That's what I meant!" North smiled, and Jack exchanged a look with Bunny.
But it wasn't his place to judge. A place where everyone believed in Jack Frost? Where he wasn't invisible? That could easily be a dream.
"Will I be able to have my own dragon?" he asked, looking at North with hope, and the man stroked his own beard.
"Maybe. But I don't think you could use it outside the archipelago. There are no dragons outside that region. It's a regional evolution."
"Like kangaroos?" Jack teased, looking sideways at Bunny, only to fly away when he leaned on both arms on the side of the sleigh and tried to kick him with both feet. "Chill out, I wasn't talking about you!"
"I saw that look!" Bunny attacked, and Jack spun his staff, turning around and sitting on it as if it were a swing in the air.
"You just think you did."
North let out a loud laugh.
"It's exactly as you said, Jack," he confirmed. "And due to the extreme life near our beloved North Pole, each island has different types of this species."
"You really did your research, huh, North," Bunny smiled. "How long were you and Stoick talking?"
"I made a few visits, yes. That place is charming!" North moved around the sleigh and pulled out a red sack. "Thanks to that, I was able to create specific toys for the kids! And gifts for the adults too."
"Yeah, the list of things you asked me to plant in my warren was problematic." Bunny grimaced. "And Jack didn't have the money for half of the rest."
"Tooth is the only one with money," he huffed, swinging his legs. "And it's really hard to ask kids to buy things at the supermarket and give them bags of coins. The poor checkout ladies got irritated." He laughed remembering their disgusted expressions at having to count every silver coin, and Jamie's embarrassed look when he saw the line growing behind him and his friends.
Jack felt bad for him, but it was hilarious.
But thanks to that, and the kids' growing rebellion as they got older, everyone refused to do that kind of favor anymore and even attacked him with snowballs instead.
"Alright, the things I asked Jack for were just to make it easier, but the yetis helped make something better to gift those people." North smiled, adjusting the toy sack, and Jack saw a dragon wing sticking out of the edge. "And besides, Tooth said there'd be no use bringing anything that required more technology than arms to work."
Bunny narrowed his eyes.
"What did you want Jack and the kids to buy?" he hissed, and Jack laughed uncontrollably at North's embarrassed glance away.
"A fridge!" Jack spun on his staff, doing a full flip and stopping upside down.
"It wasn't just that, Jack!" North tried to defend himself, but Jack shook his head.
"True. You also asked for candy and fabric, and made the elves unwrap them all, throwing them into wooden pots."
"I'm respecting what Tooth said about the time period they live in."
"I don't think that counts when you say you're from a magical kingdom." Bunny pinched the bridge of his nose. "But Stoick seemed to accept it somehow. I still think he assumes you were joking."
"Really? He seemed like a true believer to me." North crossed his arms, tilting his head to the side. "The twins were very open when we presented everything."
"Because Ruffnut and Tuffnut probably aren't right in the head." Bunny muttered, and Jack moved his foot to tap his toes against his own temple, without leaving his upside-down position.
"They're cool. They just have a lot of energy and really fast minds. In a rush, you always end up making a mess," he defended, and Bunny gave him a sideways smile. "What?"
"You really liked those little pests, didn't you?"
Jack felt the embarrassment create frost on his cheeks and shook his head, now definitely kicking Bunny as he spun on his staff, getting hit back with a fluffy paw slap to his ankle.
"Alright, boys!" Tooth arrived with her baby fairies, a clipboard, and a hijab-style scarf on her head to hide her feathers. She looked almost human like that. "What are you doing?"
Her eyes blinked at Jack and Bunnymund grappling, and North leaning so far into the sleigh that only his rear end was sticking out, legs dangling in the air.
Tooth sighed.
"Could you please take this seriously?"
"We are," they said together, and Tooth smiled affectionately.
"Guys, they are a primitive people. Don't forget that. Don't talk about how things are in the rest of the world either. Even I never understood why they have the custom of keeping their children's teeth as amulets." Tooth landed and pushed Jack's foot away from Bunny's head. "They care about the kids and are very fearful. We can't even show off our powers."
"Tooth, allow me to disagree," Jack floated upright, walking on air. "But they fly on fire-breathing beasts. Are powers really that strange to them?"
"In people, yes." Tooth put her hands on her hips. "Let's just see first, okay? No powers while you're there. Unless it's an emergency. Be… subtle."
"Jack? Subtle?" Bunny scoffed. "I think that village's peace is already gone."
"Hey!" Jack squeaked and laughed. "I know how to behave."
"We know what you consider behaving. It's not very accurate," Bunny added, and Jack rolled his eyes, smiling.
"You'll just have to trust me, then," he teased, leaning down to speak near his huge ear, and Bunny shooed him away like a fly, making him back off. "When are we leaving?"
"As soon as you change," Tooth smiled, handing clothes to Jack and North. "I could go, but… I don't think this is an adventure Bunny and I can join. Not for now. We're relying on you guys and the twins to see how much these people will accept us."
Jack noticed her gentle smile, but looking again at the hijab, he felt his chest run cold. She wanted to go. But obviously, a scarf wouldn't hide her wings and tail. And Bunnymund didn't have any disguise to make him look human. He felt bad enough to land on the ground and grip his staff.
"I'll make them understand. It'll be a place for you guys to go too," he tried, smiling, even if he didn't feel it as much right now. Tooth broke into a smile.
"It would be nice to interact with people again, far from our work and responsibilities. However, we understand it won't be easy. But it's worth taking the risks."
Her gaze grew intense on him. He felt North and Bunnymund mirror that affection, and he tightened his fingers around his staff, wanting to fly away from that warm attention that unsettled him. It was Bunnymund who pulled his hood up over his head, making him laugh and relax.
"You're still just a kid. At the very least, it'll be fun," he said, and Jack wanted to scream, not knowing what else to do.
Small snowflakes began to fall, gentle and light in the face of what was left unsaid, but was still there.
They wanted Jack to have some compensation after everything he had been through. A place for him to belong and be seen as much as Jack himself.
Sighing, he took the clothes from Tooth's hands and flew off to change.
His next stop was Berk and, with it, being seen by more than just a few children.
He didn't even know how to react to that after so much time.
But he was anxious in an exciting way.
Feeling the weight of the indigo-blue cloak was something strangely familiar, even if this one was much heavier and fluffier than the one he wore when he was still Jackson Overland. But he really hadn't missed wearing shoes.
"Seriously?" he complained, holding the boots by his fingertips as if they were something disgusting, and Baby Tooth started squeaking around him in reprimand. "But I don't actually get cold!"
He understood her point in squeaking about the others in Berk noticing if he didn't wear appropriate clothes, and that it would generate more questions and less support for their cause. And it would also create a divide between Jack and the others, which would make it very difficult to figure out how they could actually help those people hidden by mixed radiation and magic.
Jack clicked his tongue and put on the blessed heavy shoes, feeling very bothered by how hard it was to float with them.
Baby Tooth squeaked, seeming to have saved that for last.
"What do you mean I won't be able to fly?"
The door opened, and Jack glared at Phil, who was bringing in other accessories.
"You've got to be kidding," he whined, seeing all that weight being placed on the table. "Belts?"
Baby Tooth squeaked, presenting each item with new information and as if they were very expensive gifts. Not a bunch of useless tools and things that didn't come close to his real power.
"A sword?" he questioned, staring at the blade. "That thing won't even let me jump a meter off the ground!"
Baby Tooth got stressed, squeaking right in his face, and Jack shrugged, laughing. "I get it! Calm down!"
One last squeak. Jack shook his head in defeat and put his new gadgets where they were supposed to go.
The sword and its scabbard on his back with a leather strap across his front. A belt with small pouches to store things on his hip, which hung kind of sideways from the poorly distributed weight on the strap, making everything seem to sit on one side. Jack refused to wear the iron alloy vest and the other armor. It was already too much weight, and he felt like he was walking in quicksand with three times the load, forcing him to use his legs to support himself, and this seemed to frustrate the Wind a bit, as it tried to blow the armor onto the floor.
"What do you think?" he asked, moving in front of the mirror, feeling like he was wearing a costume. Phil let out a typical Yeti sound, giving a thumbs up, and Jack smiled.
"Agreed."
Baby Tooth clapped her little hands and pointed to a chair, where Jack sat down and watched through the mirror as she started braiding a few strands of hair near the nape of his neck and on the side.
"Now you guys are overdoing it," he let out, seeing his hair change, and Baby Tooth squeaked happily.
"If you say so. But I'm not going to do all this over there," he said. She squeaked. Phil grunted too. "It's going to be really funny then when this prince you want me to look like disappears the very next day, right?"
Baby Tooth pulled his hair.
Jack laughed out loud.
When Baby Tooth finished, Jack turned his head from side to side and rolled his eyes at finding shiny little things hanging in his tiny braids.
"Seriously?" he questioned, and Baby Tooth smiled, happy and excited. "Okay, okay. These jewels stay, but this right here"—his thumb pointed to the sword on his back—"comes off."
Baby Tooth complained, but Jack was already taking off that giant weight and cracking his back.
"Give me a break, this is never coming out of this scabbard. If I need to fight or something, it has to be with something I know how to use, right?" He raised an eyebrow, and Phil grunted in support, moving his furry hand. "He gets it."
Baby Tooth huffed, crossing her arms. Jack shrugged, placing his staff in the scabbard, and felt satisfied enough feeling more like himself with it.
Baby Tooth seemed to notice this and sighed, squeaking at Phil, who approached, took the scabbard from Jack, and adjusted it so it fit the staff better.
Ready and looking like a hobbit heading to Mordor, Jack laughed and tried to fly to the door, but at Baby Tooth's squeak, he forced himself to walk, muttering complaints under his breath.
The sleigh was ready, the reindeer stamping their hooves on the ground, snorting. North was already prepared, sitting in his chair with a black fur cloak over his shoulders, gold brooches, and a quilted red tunic that made him look much larger and more imposing than his usual clothes.
He really looked like a Viking.
There probably wasn't that big of a gap between them either.
"There is our ambassador!" North smiled excitedly, and Jack broke into a smile as he jumped inside. Bunny and Tooth were on the ground, smiling up at them.
"I'm going to visit," Bunny said, arms crossed. "Just to make sure you don't do anything stupid."
"Thanks. Your faith in me is touching," he let out, rolling his eyes.
"You look great, Jack! North told me there are a lot of kids your age there. Try to fit in!" Tooth asked, her hands clasped in front of her body. "Remember that over there you're not a Guardian, but a guest."
"I'll try," he replied and settled into the seat. "But don't worry, it'll all work out! I'm going for the dragons!"
Tooth smiled, a bit too affectionately for his liking, seeing too much behind his words for him to think he had fooled anyone by talking about the dragons.
He had to get better at hiding things. No longer being invisible and having to interact with people was making it far too obvious that he couldn't lie well to save his life.
"Then let's go!" North declared, snapping the reins, and Jack held onto the sides as the deer started to run.
The cold wind of the North Pole greeted him outside with the force of a tyrant, and Jack laughed out loud, raising his hand and creating snowflakes himself that dissipated, leaving a white trail behind them.
North laughed loudly, looking at him with expectation, and Jack smiled back, feeling his eyes crinkle.