Winter Moon (Jelsa)

Chapter 13: Hiccup

"I would have preferred you not set off an eternal winter in my homeland, but some things cannot be helped, I suppose," Hiccup grumbled, stamping his foot to keep it warm.

"Sorry," Elsa mumbled sheepishly. "I'm trying to fix it."

"I'm helping as well," Jack pointed out. "Although, I'm not being much help."

Elsa thrust out her hands, but the snow only swirled harder. "I'm going at doing damage, not repairing it."

"Snowflake," Jack said, "you're the only one who can fix this. I can help you but you have to try."

"I am trying," Elsa growled in frustration. "It's not working."

"Emotions," Jack reminded her. "Don't let them get the best of you."

Elsa threw up her hands and a flurry of snow burst from them, flying straight into Hiccup's face. He spluttered, wiping at the cold substance as Elsa continued her rant.

"I was getting so much better at it too! Why did I have to lose control now?"

"Is there any other way to fix this?" Hiccup demanded, his frustration finally getting the best of him.

"Unless we bring in more Elites..." Jack trailed off under three withering looks.

"We're alone in this," Elsa summarized.

"Wrong. There's about a hundred angry Vikings, Elsa's younger sister, and a couple of scary dragons with us," Jack took a seat on the porch steps. The four of them were gathered in front of Astrid's home, Elsa standing a few feet away from them, firing magic into the sky. Astrid leaned on the railing, meticulously constructing miniature snowman, and Hiccup had planted himself next to her, carefully examining the sky.

"This isn't so bad," Astrid finished her fifth snow person. "We're stuck in a blizzard and can't go back to school. A miracle, really."

"A snow day," Jack laughed.

"Until the Elites find out we're missing," Elsa added grimly. "And start hunting us."

"We can flee to the Second Continent. Change our identities. I've got plenty of fake names for you guys," Jack offered.

Elsa whacked Jack in the shoulder, but Hiccup noticed she was smiling. The relentless snow had even calmed down a bit.

"The Elites are going to find out about this sooner or later," Hiccup deduced. "We just can't be around when they investigate. Or let the Vikings tip them off that it was Elsa's fault."

"If we get it fixed," Astrid began her construction of a snow dragon, "then the Berkians might be grateful and agree to not tell them we were here?"

"At best," Elsa sighed glumly. 

"At worst, they clap us in chains, declare El here a heathen god, and burn all of us at the stake for conspiring with the forces of evil," Jack declared dramatically.

Hiccup gave him a pointed look. "We live in a world run by magic-users. They can't do that."

"If they're pissed enough, they might. And we've pissed Stoick off a lot."

"We also helped save Berk from the Night Mares."

"And set off an eternal winter along with it."

"Boys!" Elsa shouted. "Focus. Presuming that I can't undo this snowstorm without further help, which is probably going to happen, we are going to need a Plan B. Uh, any ideas?"

"We flee?" Jack offered. "I could probably navigate us beyond the borders of Berk safely."

"We do nothing," Astrid suggested. "It has to stop eventually."

"We move on to Plan C because, obviously, Plan B is going nowhere," Jack decided.

Or... Hiccup tapped the railing, racking his brain for ideas. Getting the dragons to breathe fire on the snow wouldn't work... perhaps he could invent something? No. There wasn't enough time. They needed to dissipate the storm, not melt the snow. Stop the problem at the source.

Elsa massaged her temples, glaring at the storm as if it were giving her a headache. "Astrid's right. We should just try to get some rest. You guys should go inside. I'm going to take a walk."

Hiccup nodded and obeyed, Astrid trailing after him. Jack, however, frowned and turned to go after Elsa, who had stalked off into the foot-high snowdrifts, tendrils of icy magic whispering in her wake.

~ ~ ~

"Long time no see, Father," Hiccup said awkwardly, wondering if the situation could get anymore uncomfortable. Astrid stood a few feet behind him — Hiccup suspected she was trying not to laugh at this exchange.

"Ah, son," Stoick embraced him carefully. "Perfect. I was just in need of you."

"What is it?"

The Viking Chief of Berk slammed a large, wooden box down on the kitchen table. "I brought this up from the cellar. Should help us end this infernal blizzard." 

He reached in and pulled out a smooth black stone, a small, ornate mirror, and, the shattered hilt of a dagger. Shards of the blade stuck up from the cross-guard, but most of it was missing.

Hiccup and Astrid exchanged a look.

"How will these varying pieces of junk help us, Dad?" Hiccup asked skeptically, wondering if his father had gone mad.

"They're relics of old, not pieces of junk! This is the River Stone; this is the Summer Mirror; and this is the Angel's Dagger."

"Oh yes, fantastic," Astrid frowned. "What do these do?"

"Well," Stoick rubbed his hands together. "They were said to be the god Goldred's playthings, each bestowed with some sort of glorious power, an aftereffect of being touched by a god."

"Dad," Hiccup said slowly, "how many cups of ale have you had today?"

"Only a few," Stoick swatted the concern away. "I am not drunk, son."

"You're certainly acting like it," Hiccup mumbled under his breath. Astrid snorted.

"Unfortunately," Stoick sighed, "the Angel's Dagger is broken. There are five shards, four of which we Berkians have retrieved over the ages through many great wars. However, there is one still missing. Luckily, I know where it is, because when I was a lad, I hid it with my pals."

Hiccup suspected that when Stoick was a kid, he hadn't taken this very seriously, just as Hiccup was doing now.

"Would you two mind retrieving it for me?" Stoick asked. "It's not far from here. A cave, about a mile north. With your dragons, you should be able to make it in no time."

Hiccup figured that his father had forgotten about the blizzard. But, a mile didn't seem that bad, he and Astrid could probably make it. 

"Unless of course, you'd rather help me clean out the cellar and find the other four pieces," Stoick continued, throwing open the hatch to the cellar to reveal a hideous jumble of things.

"No thank you," Hiccup burst out, yanking Astrid towards the door. "I'm allergic to cleaning. We'll go on that mildly dangerous adventure and retrieve the other shard."

They hurried out, shutting the door in Stoick's face.

"So," Astrid said brightly, "the snow's calmed down a bit. It's still raging towards the southern coast, but the north seems mostly clear. Elsa and Jack have calmed it considerably. Why don't we make sure this cave exists, humor your father, and be back in an hour to check on the storm's condition then?"

"Race you to the cave," Hiccup challenged, already scanning the skies for Toothless.