Guardians Rising

18: The Castle

Jack opened his eyes and blinked. It was pitch black around him. He blinked again, trying to see something in the gloom. A faint noise reached his ears and he stiffened, listening hard. "Well, well. Look who's awake." The voice came out of nowhere, startling him. It was a voice he had hoped never to hear again.

"Pitch!" he called out, surprise mixing with fear and anger. A chuckle broke from Pitch's lips, and the faintest possible light illuminated his dark figure, giving him an air of power and mystery. Jack tried to calm himself down, thinking, 'I've beaten him before, how bad can this be?' Then another thought struck him, but before he could say anything more, Pitch's voice sounded again.

"How'd you like my trap?" He grinned viciously. "Took them a while to get that little trick." Jack looked at Pitch for a moment, his sarcastic streak coming back, and said,

"What trick? Jumping out of the shadows?" Pitch glared at him for a fleeting moment before snarling,

"No, shape-shifting." Jack short-lived burst of energy drained like a burst pipe. His previous question was answered. And he knew what might be coming for his friends.

——-

The three friends trudged through the late afternoon, eyes downcast and feet dragging. Even Rapunzel and Toothless seemed totally exhausted. Merida lifted her eyes for a glimpse of the castle, which was just peaking above the horizon. "Ugh," she said despondently. Hiccup looked at her sympathetically. Merida glared at him, then set her face and made no further complaint. Hiccup sighed.

"Let's rest," he said, and the others sat down at once. Hiccup leaned against Toothless, who was crouched on the ground, tired. They didn't talk for a few minutes; they were thinking. All of them were missing Jack, some less obviously than others. After a few moments of silence, Merida glanced up at Hiccup.

"So, Haddock," she said, "what's your home like?" Hiccup looked up at her. It was the first time she had shown apparently genuine interest. He hesitated before answering with a slight chuckle,

"Well, I'd say it's great. Cold, but great." Merida looked at him expectantly, and he continued. "A few years ago, I would have said it was the origin of misery." He chuckled again. "Not so much anymore, though."

"Why?" asked Rapunzel.

"Well," he answered, a little awkward. "Now, I've got my mom back, and I have Astrid too." It was the first time he had spoken openly of the tall blonde girl to his new friends, and he wondered for a moment how they would take it.

They looked a little surprised, Merida slightly more than Rapunzel, but they didn't say anything. Merida only nodded. A few moments later, she stood up.

"We should get going," she said. "The castle is just beyond the hill."

"Okay," said Hiccup, and they continued walking.

——-

Astrid was eating a bowl of hot soup and listening to Gobber telling King Fergus about the happenings on Berk over the past few years when a young sentry came running up to them. The king looked up at the man and said,

"What is it, lad?" The sentry took a few moments to get his breath back, then bowed and said,

"Your Majesty," he paused and gulped. "Uh, there's, well, a . . thing out there." Fergus looked at the man skeptically and replied,

"What are ya' sayin', lad? What kind a' thing?"

The man gulped again. Clearly, he was a bit shaken. "Well, sir, it's . . a dragon." He said the last word slowly, as if he didn't quite believe it himself. But Fergus, having just been told by Gobber about the alliance with the dragons, was unperturbed. 

However, Astrid, upon hearing this, jumped to her feet. It must be Hiccup! she thought. But she wanted to be sure. Steeling herself, she asked the sentry,

"What color was it?" the man looked at her, a little startled, and was at a loss for words for about a second. Then, he regained his composure and replied,

"It was black . . miss."

Astrid needed no further confirmation. Hiccup was out there, and she wasn't waiting for him to come here.

Leaving her plate on the long wooden table, she beckoned to the others. Snoutlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut came quickly. Despite their differences and quarrels, they were all good friends with Hiccup, and were almost as eager to see him as Astrid was.

"Ready?" she asked them. They all nodded, grins on their faces. "Good," she said. Let's go."