#yeah somebody liked one of my really old berserk posts so I started thinking about how much I used to talk about Berserk but also

[robocops-a-christ-allegory]

Thinking about Berserk again. I havent read any of the new chapters because Miura's death kind of got to me really bad so thinking about or talking about berserk at all just made me really depressed and I think I probably havent even looked at it since he passed (after I used to reread huge chunks of it like every week) but now its been like two years and Im thinking I should just accept it and give the new stuff a shot.

One thing I am always thinking about though is how Miura's death effected discussion around Berserk and how much it will continue to effect discussion. Like, I always felt Berserk never got enough criticism. You can search Berserk on here and find all my old posts complaining about how everybody was jumping the gun on calling it One Of The Greatest Manga Ever when it wasnt even done and at the time most people were convinced it hadnt been good since like what, conviction arc? And that was back before Kentaro Miura died and his death has only made the discussion even more like "Berserk is a beautiful wonderful masterpiece and anyone with problems doesnt GET IT".

So like I stopped reading under the idea that no matter what happened it wasnt gonna be what REALLY shouldve happened, now I think thats kind of unfair and maybe I should give it a shot, but I think that idea is gonna be influencing how people talk about a manga that was already being given alot of undue praise and adoration from people who seemed to mostly never have actually read it and had nothing more interesting to say about it beyond it being the manga that popularized the idea of a guy with a big big sword. I dunno.

#Also when Miura died and everybodys first questions were like what was gonna happen to berserk. I dunno #I might be lying I might just never get back to it. #Berserk still very important to me but also the fact that it is continuing at all. I dunno I guess I dont know what Miura wouldve wanted #but it kind of seems nobody did and I have this feeling in my mind of like 'is the only reason they continued Berserk is because- #-its so profitable'. but I dont know enough about the current mangaka or like Anything to really say that without feeling like a jerk. #yeah somebody liked one of my really old berserk posts so I started thinking about how much I used to talk about Berserk but also #have just been thinking alot about it again in general. I dunno.............. #also when I say got depressed I mean I got convinced art was stupid and pointless for a second it was fucking bad #Like this is kind of the one time ever a celebrity dying really got to me and it was because like he was gone and everybody was just #asking about when berserk was gonna continue and again the nicest thing most people said about berserk was it #popularizing a trope in anime. It made me feel hopeless #Fine now. been two years. Sad situation but I dont think thats gonna be all berserk gets remembered for now. #yeah this is long and rambly sorry. MY blog I can start posting about berserk really sadly out of nowhere.

[mrsmaybank]

Crushing - Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

“Reid, stop giving JJ’s intern bedroom eyes. It fuckin’ weirds me out.”

A/N: I love baby genius, season one Reid so much. I wanted to give him a soulmate. Soulmate is you: shy and also a baby genius. Okay, thanks for reading. This was honestly just for me. 

CW: Implied Smut, Mild Cursing, shitty writing 

“Who...Who is that?” Dr. Spencer Reid, debatably the wordiest boy Derek Morgan had ever met, was suddenly at a loss for words. Maybe it was your perfectly sculpted face, your shoes, the copy of The Kreutzer Sonata held to your chest, your chest, or maybe a mix of it all.  Whatever it was, at sight of you walking through the office doors, he was stripped of his ability to speak. 

“That’s JJ’s new intern.” Morgan said plainly, before noticing the completely enamored look on his friend’s face. “What, pretty boy?” Reid couldn’t even be bothered to reply. He was too busy studying every detail of your frame. 

“You think she’s cute or something kid?” Morgan playfully jabbed his shoulder, Spencer’s face instantly flushing an embarrassing shade of red. 

“What?!” He shrieked, “I-no! That’s not..No!” That’s a lie. 

“I just..I didn’t know JJ was getting an intern.” That though, was true. 

“She’s supposed to be pretty impressive. Let’s go meet her.” he started in the direction of the coffee stand, where you and JJ had begun chatting. Before Spencer could protest out of his shyness, he was being dragged along. 

“Morgan,” JJ smiled, “Spence,” she nodded in his direction, “This is Y/N Y/L/N. My godsent savior.” JJ beamed in your direction.

You smiled more sheepishly then you would’ve liked, muttering a “Hopefully.” that got a laugh from Morgan and a “Oh, please.” from JJ, but nothing from the man in the glasses. You did your best not to read into it. 

“Derek Morgan.” the muscular agent extended his hand to shake yours, an offer you timidly but happily accepted. 

The taller, lankier, younger, incredibly cute man next to him stuffed one of his hands in his pocket and shifted uncomfortably with a small wave, “I’m uh, Doctor Spencer Reid, oh! Uh, you don’t have to, uh call me Doctor. No..” He shook his head, “Just Spencer is fine.” He looked at you with wide eyes that sent butterflies berserk in your stomach and swiped his tongue in between his lips that only made them go crazier. JJ had told you all about the team. About the magnificently brilliant Dr. Spencer Reid, his 3 PhDs and eidetic memory, and all the other quirks you’d have to know in order to work with him, but had failed to mention how utterly hot he was. You felt a crush hijacking your system already. Dear god. 

“It’s nice to meet you both.” Your hands gripped your book tighter as you shifted onto your tiptoes, “I’ve heard really exceptional things.” 

The conversation was set to continue, but Morgan and JJ were summoned by Hotch to the closed doors of his office. Leaving the resident genius and you starting at each other with tight lip smiles. 

Spencer started first, “The Kreutzer Sonata is great.” He excitedly continued, “It uh, it actually used to be a pretty bold book to carry around. After the work had been forbidden in Russia by censors, there was actually a mimeographed version that was widely circulated. Then in 1890, the United States Post Office Department prohibited the mailing of newspapers containing serialized installments of it too. Theodore Roosevelt even called Tolstoy a-” 

His enthusiasm was beyond endearing. You finished for him with a soft smile, "Sexual moral pervert.”

Spencer’s lips upturned in a smile. It was rare somebody in the office could finish his sentences. And he couldn’t help but replay the crass words being said in your soft voice. He felt a crush hijacking his system already. Dear god.  

“Most people don’t recognize it in the original Russian.”  Spencer heard you say. 

“Most people probably wouldn’t recognize it in English.” he retorted.

You laughed, “Yeah, you’re right.” 

Spencer wasn’t even kidding. “I’m not joking.” He shook his head. “It’s unfortunate how many people aren’t even vaguely familiar with Tolstoy.” 

“It is.” you agreed. “You went to Caltech, correct?” 

He smiled, “Yes.” 

“I almost did too. Decided last minute on Columbia.” 

“You went to Columbia?” he asked. 

“I just graduated.” 

“How old are you?” he asked before quickly correcting himself,  “I’m sorry! That was forward! I am not...I’m not trying to undermine your studies with your age, I promise. I’m just curious.” 

“No! It’s okay!” You got out fast. “I’m 19. I graduated high school a little bit early.” 

“Me too.” He smiled. “12, actually.” 

Your eyes went wide, “12?” 

“Yes, um, in a Las Vegas public high school.” He winced, but the self-deprecation somehow came out charming, “I uh,” His eyes narrowed, “didn’t go to a lot of parties.” 

That made you wholeheartedly laugh. “Me neither! I graduated at 15, which you know is the age everybody else starts. It created a really weird dynamic because the older kids in my grade didn’t like me, but the underclassmen my age really didn’t like me.” 

Instead of the laugh you were expecting, Spencer just gave you a pensive stare. 

“Um..I can’t see why. I think you’re very likeable.” The compliment would’ve been strange exchanged by anybody other than Spencer to you.

  “Wait till you get to know me.” You said it through a smile but so softly you were afraid he might not be able to hear it, but he did. 

And that was confirmed when he flashed you the most incredible, toothy grin you’d ever seen. “I uh, I doubt there will be any change in opinion.” 

“Well, um, I’m sure- I think! You’re very likeable as well Dr. Reid.” you said. 

“That’s what you say now.” He retorted in the same coy tone you had earlier. 

You shook your head, “You’ll find I can be insufferably stubborn.” 

-----------------------------------

After two weeks, there was little Spencer could do to hide his massive crush affinity for you from the team. 

In the bullpen: 

You guys had locked eyes and were mouthing out exchanged of No’s and Yes’s from across the room. There was an ongoing half-serious dispute about whether or not Xanthippe slept with Plato. 

Morgan glided in his wheeled chair to whisper into Spencer’s ear. 

“Reid, stop giving JJ’s intern bedroom eyes. It fuckin’ weirds me out.” He said, shoving files into the cabinet below Reid’s desk. 

“I’m..I’m not.. I--what? Bedr--No!” Reid whisper-shouted back. 

On the jet: 

“Reid?” Gideon called Spencer, “Chess?” He motioned towards the board. 

“Yes, sure. Just give me a second. I’m almost done. I’m reading Infinite Jest. I don’t usually enjoy literature if it isn’t classic, even less so if it’s American. But..” Spencer smiled, “Y/N likes the author.”  He continued his fast-paced reading of the third-to-last chapter of the book. 

Morgan and Gideon exchanged glances. 

Even in front of you: 

You opened a sugar packet and began stirring. 

“De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium is still some of the best work on  heliocentric theory out there, I think. Copernicus knew what he was talking about!” You spun on your heels to see Reid’s face contorted in disagreement. You giggled, “Don’t give me that face! I’m right!” 

He took a sip of his coffee as to keep himself quiet. “Listen, cosmological theory is for…” 

But the pair of you were interrupted, it was Elle, standing behind you and in front of Spencer. 

“New skirt?” Elle asked as you turned, back now facing Reid.  She was pouring herself a cup of coffee too.

“Yes!” You excitedly nodded. “You like it?” 

Elle looked up and down, but not at you. The judgmental eyes were for the man behind you. She pursed her lips, “Not just me.” 

The only face redder than yours was Reid’s.

-----------------------------------

Nights spent in a bar after a case that had dragged on far too long was nothing new, but the energy tonight was especially light. Gideon had refused, but everybody else was just relaxed, even Hotch, and the team just got happier at each other's happiness. It was great, really. As Hotch and Morgan sipped on whiskey, JJ and Penelope had already downed four sugary, colorful cocktails and were in a whispered fit of giggles. Elle and Spencer settled on a tamer option of an IPA Spencer couldn’t name. 

“SPENCER!” Penelope excitedly shouted, “Y/N is literally you! You’re both adorable! You’re both geniuses! You’re both young!” She drew on her rant, “And if you have a crush on her you should just tell her!” JJ’s eyes widened in embarrassment as she tried to cover Penelope’s mouth. 

Morgan and Elle erupted in soft laughter while Hotch cracked an uncharacteristically amused smile. 

“Spence, I swear, I didn’t say that! I just...I may have mentioned how happy you get every time she’s around! And how you guys can talk for literally hours!” JJ defended, her words slurring in silly drunkenness. 

Spencer rolled his eyes. This wasn’t the first time they teased him about you, and it probably wouldn’t be the last time either. 

“I don’t have a crush on her! We just….we like the same things! It gives us a lot to talk about.” 

“Yeah?” Morgan said through a laugh, “And what is it that boy and girl wonder talk about so much?” 

“Well, uh.. a lot of things. But I find she gets the most excited when we are discussing the theories of postmodernism, in that apparent realities are actually just social constructs and veritable realities are subject to change, and uh... we like to talk about linguistics….political philosophy….history... mathematic theory...and uh, oh! Doctor Who.” 

Spencer was blushing and spoke about you like a teenage girl did their boyband crush, and the team noticed. They didn’t even need to say it out loud. Spencer gathered from the way they looked back at him. 

“I heard she lent you a book too, Reid.” Hotch said before taking a sip from his glass. 

“Yes! She did!” He smiled, “It was her copy of Pale Fire. She has an impressive collection of 19th century Russian literature. All in its original dialect! Some of it’s even annotated, which usually would annoy me but since it’s her thoughts and notes I sort of find it endearing.” 

“Dr. Reid is endeared!” Greenaway shrieked.

“Yeah,” he nodded, pushing his glasses up a little higher on his nose, “I find her incredibly endearing.” 

“Y’all that sounded like a dorky love confession.” Morgan said as the team erupted in laughter and Reid’s head fell in a smile. There was no point in denying it anymore: He really, really liked you.

--------------------------------------

Within two months, you and Spencer had finally put your shyness aside, and spent a very lovely evening at watching an orchestra at the Smithsonian Music,  and sharing noodles at your favorite Thai restaurant. And then you guys spent some time on your couch. And then in your bed. And then in the shower. And then in the kitchen. You were both very sexually frustrated. 

For the following two months, as soon as you both stepped out of the office, it was very, very hard to keep your hands off each other. Could either of you help it though? Teenage geniuses don’t experience parties, or football games, or clumsy sex. The time was perfect to make up for it. 

And you guys did. The sex part at least. “Football involves a lot of dirt. And germs. And sweat.”

“Oh my god!” you shrieked. His hands were in a place they found themselves more and more often: Your pants. 

“Does it feel good?” he asked, continuing his pattern of small circles on that particular bundle of nerves. 

“It feels great.” You nodded. 

“I uh, I’ve been researching the female anatomy.” 

You closed your eyes and nodded your head, but trying to focus on your boyfriends newfound intellect. “It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” 

He watched your undoing with boyish adoration and curiosity before swallowing, “Very.” 

“Oh fuck!” Your legs began to shake, “Spencee...I’m gonn--” 

--------------------------------------------

You and Spencer just understood each other. 

#drspencerreid #dr spencer reid #dr reid #criminalminds #reid criminal minds #spencer reid x you #spencer reid x reader #Spencerreid #spencer reid reader insert #spencer x y/n #reid x reader #spencer reid #professor reid x reader #professor reid #season1 reid

[secretsickysideblog]

repentance & rest-oration

“I didn’t know you got migraines,” is what he decides on. “I didn’t either,” Fugo scoffs. “Started after... well .”

“Yeah,” Mista nods, “after, well. Yeah.”

while struck with the misfortune of a migraine, fugo receives a visitor. (post-purple haze feedback)

(sicktember day 4 - headaches/migraines)

  The first time Fugo had developed a migraine, only days after parting ways from the rest of his gang and Passione entirely, he had decided it was some form of karma. He’d laughed, bitterly, before realizing that only worsened the pulsing in his head. And then he’d managed to fall into a fitful rest in an alleyway between a bar and a restaurant.

Now, six months and change later and waking up in a bed with a familiar pounding in his head, Fugo would like to say the pain is lessened by the comfort of an actual apartment. But it isn’t. It’s always just about as bad as he remembers, and even though he’s repented for his poor choices as evidenced by the scars permanently brandished on his cheeks, the poor luck of regular migraines hasn’t seemed to leave him.

 Fugo groans softly, rolling over and shoving his face as far into his pillow as he can manage. Even with the curtains drawn shut, the light only serves to worsen the pounding in his head. He takes a deep breath to quell the roiling nausea in the pit of his gut. It does little to help, and Fugo tangles his fingers in his hair as he fights the urge to crawl under his bed and die there. 

 There’s a knock, distantly, and at first Fugo thinks he’s started hallucinating; when it comes louder, he pieces together that somebody is knocking on his front door. Which means that he is, unfortunately, obligated to haul ass out of bed and answer. He huffs and slowly, carefully rolls out of bed, and he takes his time in standing to avoid having the world spin too much. 

 A third series of knocks, and if there’s a fourth, Fugo’s certain he might go berserk and stab something. (Or himself. He’s survived it once, what’s another knife to the gut going to do?) 

 With as much aggravation as he can manage through how disgustingly weak he feels, Fugo throws open the front door. And standing there is none other than Guido Mista, dressed formally in his new-and-improved business garb; it’s been about two weeks since he swore fealty to Giorno, and he still isn’t used to the new colors on the two of them. 

 Fugo blinks, confused. The last time he saw Mista approach him in-person on his own volition was when he was getting a revolver aimed at his head in point-blank range. 

 “If you’re here to kill me, do it quickly. Quietly, please,” Fugo croaks, stepping away from the front door to allow Mista entry. He leans against his table, squeezing his eyes shut and gingerly massaging his temples with the pads of his fingertips. “Oh, death sounds great.” 

 “Woah,” Mista puts his hands up in mock surrender, gun tucked safely in the crotch of his pants, as usual. “I come in peace. I just came ‘cause it’s almost three and Giorno and I haven’t heard from you all day.”

 “Wasn’t aware you were anticipating hearing from me,” Fugo snarks, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. It’s true; usually, he hears from Giorno over Mista and it’s about a lead to follow. He works alone now, for the most part, with the exception of Sheila E. If Fugo ever contacts Giorno or Mista outside of seeing them personally, it’s brief.

 “Well, no, but you didn’t come by or bother to call.”

“Usually, if I’m needed, you call for me,” Fugo takes a couple of shaky breaths before standing up straight and opting to curl up on the couch instead with a quiet, “I need to sit down,” mumbled beneath his breath. 

 “I guess I was just used to you taking initiative to interact and had a nagging feeling something was wrong, okay? Sue me,” Mista shakes his head. “I was right though, obviously. What’s up with you?”

 “Migraine,” Fugo buries his face in his hands. “I think I might vomit. Or pass out. Or both, and then subsequently choke on my vomit and die.” 

 “Nothin’ I haven’t seen before.” Mista rolls his eyes. The two lapse into silence, and usually, this wouldn’t matter, but usual for them is seven months ago before the fall of any normalcy they’d come to build up together. Mista, honestly, isn’t sure why he decided to check in on Fugo--the two of them have taken careful efforts to do the opposite of what they’re doing right now.

 Admittedly, Mista may have come to reconcile. It’s been two weeks. It’s about time the two have a conversation that isn’t about dead bodies, be it of friends or foes. But now is, obviously, not the time, and Mista’s not exactly sure what to do other than stand here and try and tuck away everything he’d intended on saying in favor of saying something more useful (which, in this case, might just be nothing at all.) 

 “I didn’t know you got migraines,” is what he decides on. “I didn’t either,” Fugo scoffs. “Started after... well.” 

“Yeah,” Mista nods, “after, well. Yeah.” 

 He considers leaving, which is probably what Fugo wants him to do. But briefly, he considers that maybe Fugo could use a friend. Ex-friend. Colleague. Whatever the hell they are now--some sort of company, some sort of support. Fugo had gotten his family ripped out from under him just like Mista had whether the latter enjoys admitting that fact to himself or not.

 So after a moment of hesitance and a long exhale, Mista approaches the couch and sits on the opposite end from Fugo. Not close to him, but closer than the doorway. 

 “Stress, probably,” Mista suggests. “I try not to be stressed, so I wouldn’t know. But Gio gets headaches sometimes when he’s overworked.”

 “I’m not overworked, ” Fugo snaps, but he immediately regrets it. He bites back the rest of his statement--’ I don’t do enough anymore’-- in part because he doesn’t have the energy to argue it, but equally because he fears Mista would agree. And although he knows, in his heart, that it’s true, he dislikes the idea of hearing someone else say it. With the severity of the throbbing pain bouncing along the walls of his skull, Fugo is about to cry for reasons entirely unrelated. He does not need a reason to cry tears of sadness. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap.” 

 “You’re good,” Mista shrugs, “well, clearly not good, but. You know...what I mean.” 

 “Yeah.” Fugo would laugh if he had it in him to. “I know what you mean.”

 “Do you want me to, erm…” Mista scratches the back of his neck. “Do you want painkillers or something? A cup of tea?”

 Fugo picks his head up, eyes narrowing in Mista’s direction, and not in defense towards the light hitting them. “Am I hallucinating? Are you offering me help?” 

 “Oh, don’t be an assbag. I’m packin’ a gun, y’know.”

 “I am well aware, thank you,” Fugo chuckles breathily. And then he sighs. “Do you mean it?” “I wouldn’t offer it if I wasn’t serious. That’s a pretty lame joke, if you ask me.”

Fugo considers it--considers, mostly, saying no and shooing Mista out of his apartment to continue to keep him and all of the grief he reminds him of away. But he is freshly out of painkillers and if he were to stand long enough to make a cup of tea he might keel over. A harsh wave of pain nearly constricts the back of his throat into a gag, and Fugo decides that he really does not have a choice in the matter. 

 “...Alright,” he agrees, reluctance clear in his tone. “If you really don’t mind.”

 Mista makes a move to stand, but he lingers for a moment. He looks Fugo over with this odd seriousness to his expression, though this goes unnoticed by Fugo himself who has buried his face back into his hands. And gingerly, with the tender cautiousness of touching fragile old china, he cards his fingers through Fugo’s hair--just twice. 

 Fugo doesn’t want to admit the way it seemed to curb the intensity, for just a moment. He tells himself it’s a fluke. 

 “I’ll be back, okay?” Mista goes through the effort to whisper. 

 “Okay,” Fugo whispers back. 

 As he hears Mista's footsteps recede, mindfully quieted, Fugo dares to think that maybe karma isn’t so black-and-white.

#pannacotta fugo #guido mista #migraines #headaches #headaches & migraines #sickfic #sick character #jjba fanfiction #jjba sickfic #purple haze feedback #post-phf #post purple haze feedback #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo's bizarre adventure sickfic #sicktember2021

[averytiredfanfictionwriter]

The Immortals- Chapter Four

Chapter four is here and I hope you guys are as excited about it as I am. I’m starting to delve into a little bit of the background information for some of the characters and give a little bit more of their history before I really get into the DSMP events because I might change them just a little bit for the direction I’m planning on taking the story, so in order to do that I feel it’s important you know more about the characters. I hope you guys enjoy. Trigger Warnings: None that I can see, but comment if you think one should be added. Ao3 link: bop. Also, if you check my Ao3, the chapter is usually posted a day ahead Chapter Three and a half | Chapter Five | Masterlist Also, for context Phil is maybe like five or Six years old. His age doesn’t really matter, all that’s important to know is that he’s a small child.

Ash wakes in an unfamiliar bed, her head pounding as she looks around the dimly lit room. It’s comfortable looking, bookshelves line the dark oak walls and a small rug covers the majority of the open floor space. A small desk and chair sits in the corner next to a window, which she has a perfect view out of from the bed. Overall, it’s nice. Too nice.

Listening carefully, she searches for any sounds in the surrounding area, any faint clicking that might indicate redstone usage. But there’s nothing. She can’t help but feel on edge though.

The last thing she remembers is being pulled up onto a horse with somebody, and the green cloak that was wrapped around her lies on the chair next to the bed. She looks over at it, the cause of the sense of familiarity right on the tip of her tongue but she's unable to actually remember it. 

At least, that is until the man himself steps through the door to the bedroom, shutting it softly behind him and taking a seat in the chair after moving the cloak onto the bed at Ash's feet.

“How are you feeling?” His green eyes are still every bit as entrancing as she remembers them to be, and she shakes her head to clear herself of the intrusive thoughts that threaten to invade her mind.

“Not great, but I’ll live.” After traveling for so long, the weariness and tiredness have finally caught up to her, and she wishes for nothing more than to fall asleep for a couple hundred years.

“Ah, well. I made food. It’s downstairs, if you feel good enough to walk. I can bring it up here if not.” Dream replies, brushing the blonde hair out of his face with an air of annoyance.

“I think I can make the walk.” She replies, pushing the blanket off her legs and stepping down onto the carpet. 

Dream stands and holds his hands above her arm, ready to catch her incase she falls. Slowly but surely, she makes her way across the room, wings tucked close into her body so as not to knock anything over on the way through the house. 

“So what are you doing here? Last time I saw you, I thought you had died.” The memories rush back to her as she makes her way down the stairs with the man she thought she’d lost forever.

The young child starts crying yet again as Ash and Dream continue marching through the dark woods. Dream grits his teeth, his fist clenching around the handle of his sword. 

“He’s going to get us killed.” The man growls, watching as Ash picks up the child and cradles him against her chest trying to comfort him.

“He’s a kid and he’s scared.” Ash says with a frown.

Dream laughs. “Yeah, and he’s going to get us killed in here. Hell, he’s the reason we’re down here anyways. It was too dangerous to take him above ground- the humans would hear him or see him and then come running after us. We came down here to keep him safe because you’re so insistent on saving him but we can’t do that if we’re dead as well!” Dream yells out, the kids cries quieting and leaving Ash silent. “We have to either get rid of him or find a way to keep him quiet.”

The last sentence is monotonous, indifferent, but it holds malicious undertones and Ash shivers at the connotations his words have.

“We’re not killing him.”

“Then make him be quiet. Or I’ll leave you both here.” He hisses out, turning and continuing down the path, green eyes scanning the shadows for enemies that might be lurking in the darkness.

“Hey, Phil, I need you to do something for me, okay.” The boy nods. “I need you to be really quiet. No matter what you see or hear, I need you to stay silent for me. Can you do that?” The boy nods again.

“Good. Now, let’s go.” Ash holds the boy in her arms and follows after Dream, the kids sniffling the only sound between them. 

It’s impossible to tell the passage of time in the cave, but all Ash knows is that they’ve been walking forever, and she’s about to pass out. 

“Dream… I need… to stop… for…” She tries to finish the sentence but falls to the ground, dropping her sword next to her. 

Phil tugs on her shirt, the fear of being alone in the dark washing over him.

“Shit.” Dream says, dropping next to her on the ground and scanning their surroundings. To be honest, Dream hadn’t expected to walk as long as they did, the cave ended up being larger than he thought. 

“C’mon Ash, you need to wake up.” He uncorks a potion from his bag, one that he hoped was a regeneration potion, the light pink liquid iridescent in the light as he pours a little into the young woman’s mouth.

Phil stands by silently, remembering the promise he made but wanting nothing more than to burst into tears at the sight of the woman- who’s pretty much become his mom in the past few weeks they’ve been together- passing out. Much to the surprise of Dream, the young boy clutches onto his arm, face buried into the cloak that he wears around himself. Their relationship is… rocky, to say the least. The constant glares thrown towards Phil haven’t exactly helped them in developing a healthy relationship. The young boy doesn’t often go to Dream for things, only when Ash is busy does Phil ask Dream for anything.

After a long few minutes, Ash wakes back up, energy somewhat restored- Dream hopes it’s enough to make it through the rest of the cave and out of it. 

“Ash!” Phil cries out, grabbing onto her tightly.

“Hey Phil, it’s okay. I’m okay.” She says, looking up at Dream.

“We need to keep going. It’s not safe to sleep down here. Do you think you can make it the rest of the way or do you need more of the potion?” He asks and helps her to her feet, brushing the dust off the smooth wings on her back.

“I should be able to make it. But you’re right, we need to hurry. I don’t like the silence.” And that’s when it dawns on Dream that the forest has in fact fallen completely silent. Not even the trees rustle.

“Take Phil and fly to the exit. I’ll catch up. You need to get him out and away from here.” He mumbles.

“No. I’m not leaving you here. It’s not safe to be alone.” She protests.

“We’re immortal- but he’s not. If you want to save him, then you need to get him out of here. Not only am I a much better fighter, but you can fly him out of here. I’ll hold off whatever’s coming while you escape.” He says, sword glistening in the low light.

“I-”

“Just fucking go!” Dream yells, as one of the creatures they’ve been trying to avoid the whole time bursts out of the tree line and the group goes silent.

It towers over the trio, more than 9 feet tall. Tentacles waves off it’s chest, a huge gaping mouth in its chest. The blood drains out of Ash’s face and Phil takes one look at it before he starts wailing, screams echoing off the cave walls in all directions. The creature goes berserk, the tentacles waving all over the place and a shrill screech leaves it’s face, whether there’s a mouth there or not is yet to be determined.

Ash yanks Phil up into her arms and takes off into the air, narrowly avoiding the creatures’ long arms. Ash flies in the direction they were walking, really hoping there’s no more of those things and an exit to this horrible place. Soon, sunlight becomes visible and she flies out of the cave, breathing in deep breaths as the two land on the ground a little ways away. 

“I need to go back and get him, but I can’t leave you here alone. I also can’t take you back with me.” Ash mumbles, looking between the cave exit and the crying boy in front of her.

Suddenly, a loud scream comes from the cave and then there’s silence. The air seems to stand still as the dreadful truth sets in. Dream is gone.

“Yeah, well me and you can’t die. To be honest, I thought I had as well. I only entered a deep sleep while my body recovered from the damage it took. When I woke, I was back in the first house we’d had. The mortals had burnt it down after we left, but I guess I was still tied to the house. I tried to make my way back to that cave to try and find you guys, but the two of you were long gone by the time I got back. I thought you were captured or continued on, so I started looking for the immortal children safe houses to see if you’d gone there. When I couldn’t find you, I assumed the worst and then went a little crazy after that but now you’re back here with me so neither of us have to worry anymore.” Dream explains and Ash shivers. Any monster too powerful for even Dream to defeat is not a monster she wants to face.

“So where is here, exactly?” Ash asks.

“Outside a small country I’d established with a few other immortals and hybrids, as well as some mortals that I found out I could trust. You’ll like it here.” Dream says, a small smile on his face as he pulls out a chair at the kitchen table for her to sit.

“Um, yeah. About that. Techno won’t like that. He’s not too big on, uh, governments.” She whispers, and Dream only nods.

“Well, it’s not like he can do anything about it, considering neither of you are in any state to fight against anyone right now. You especially. So, now that I’ve told you what I’ve been up to, what about you? What have you been doing the past 300 years?” Dream asks, setting the food on the table in front of her and taking a seat across from her.

“That’s a very long story.” She mumbles, taking a bite of food.

“Well, it would appear that we have all the time in the world.” Dream jokes and Ash laughs a little.

“Okay, well. After me and you had gotten separated at the cave…”

#dream smp #dream #philza #technoblade #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #technoblade x reader #dream x reader #sbi inc x reader #sbi x reader #jschlatt #lizzy write #The Immortals-dsmp #lizzy writes

[dire-kumori]

The Long Road: Chapter 12

The Sorceress’s Apprentice

Rating: T

Pairing(s): hijack

Chapter summary: Stoick believes it’s high time Jack became a permanent member of the Hooligan Tribe. So he gets Jack an apprenticeship with the village’s best healer, Gothi. Gothi, however, feels she can do more than teach him about medicine... Assuming she can keep Jack inside her hut!

As a spirit, Jack did not require near as much sleep as a human did. Even if he did he would not 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 could not 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 would not be able to see them for a while they were not 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 crescent 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 had 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 could not 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 Jack had nearly mistaken it 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 had seen some of the Man in the Moon's messengers before, back in his own time, but it was always from afar. When he had 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 had not expected to find one in Viking times though. The Man in the Moon was probably still a child right now, and should not 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 the village, he hoped to find Torborg and the other children and distract them from their chores for a little while. 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 had 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 did not 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 did not 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 would not 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.

The wooden platform atop which her home had been built always had a coating of dirt spread across it so that she could write. Staff in hand, she started to scribble her response to Jack.

((You're late. I expected you two days ago.))

"I know, I know!" Jack said, putting his hands up in a disarming gesture. "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 could not 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 did not 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 village? 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 there be a problem with me being a guy?"

Gothi had to rub out her writing again before she answered, ((Not unless you decide to tell the rest of the village. 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 could not 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 ice 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 had 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 need as much to survive as a human did, but the Hooligans could not 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, he 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 easier to deal with."

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 stone 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 could not 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 barrelled 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 had 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."

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. Every opportunity that he was presented with 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 had 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 could not 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 had not 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. It was not quite low enough that Stoick could not hear him, however.

"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 could not help being worried. 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 training for today. You'll likely find him wandering the village."

Now that he thought about it, Stoick realized he had not 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 was not terribly concerned with Jack's apparent absence.

After all, without a dragon the boy had to at least be somewhere on the island, unlike his son who was missing somewhere at sea.

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. The trip took more than a day, even with his speed.

A massive blizzard was raging when he approached but with a wave of his staff he calmed the violent winds and turned the snow's descent from a 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 a moment later that her relief had come 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 could not 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!"

((True, but what about you?))

"What about me?"

((Well, even dragons need toothpicks.))

"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 would not 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 could not resist letting her wings buzz for just a moment.

Jack did not 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 his immortal life, 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 when his outstretched fingers came close. "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 did not 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 boots into the ice to slow himself down.

"What's up? Why are we stopping?"

((Healing-waters-down-below-danger-monstrous-ice-dragon-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 in 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 eys 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 did not 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 could not 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 did not think he would be seen. 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 would not 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 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 was not 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 had not 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't-go-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 had 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 once again bare feet - and grinned at the sight of them dropping down from the sky.

"Hey Hic!" he greeted as he ran towards the nightfury-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 was not 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 a our age and-"

"Hey hey hey, calm down Hic! I was just teasing!" Jack threw up his arms in defense. "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 Jack supposed to do when all of the dragon riders 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 didn't mean..." 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 did not 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 did not 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 was not 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 Hiccup. 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 would not have believed it if his reflection had not literally stepped out of the pond. Or, maybe he would have. It was Jack, after all.

"That's... Wow."

Flee glistened. Hiccup hoped she was not going to attack him like Baby Tooth had when they first met. Fortunately, she did not. Instead she 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 had not 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.

#fanfiction #my writing #The Long Road #hijack #frostcup #jaccup