White the Cursed

15 - The county of Broch

The country of Broch. It had been days Jack had constantly been hearing about it. The Hairy Hooligans Circus was still traveling and slowly going back up north, aiming to go to Broch's country festival. It was a large gathering of the four clans living in this region, filled with loads of games and tournaments, various sport contests and spectacles going on for two weeks long. The circus had already joined it two times and the performers were always welcomed like kings and queens.

Hiccup and Astrid were even friends with the princess Merida, whom Snotlout had tried to woo several times. Despite the ongoing bets on when he would get back together with Heather, the twins couldn't help but make new bets about him trying to get the hot-tempered princess' hand in marriage once more.

Every time the troup was talking about the princess, it was with admiration. Astrid liked her hot temper and her love for weapons and fights. Heather was looking up to her bow skills as well as riding horses. Snotlout was praising her beauty, always talking about her firing hair, fair skin and long neck. The twins and Dagur were mostly talking about the princess' younger brothers, mischievous triplets whom Eret and Fishlegs were complaining about while Gobber was comparing them to Tuffnut and Ruffnut. Valka was talking about Merida and her mother, queen Elinor, with much respect and friendship. As to Hiccup, he took a great time telling Jack about some adventures he went on with Merida when they were younger and just as rebelious as the other. They had a lot of escapades in the forest on Angus – Merida's horse – and Toothless' back.

Jack could hear the affection pouring from the tamer's voice when he was talking about the princess. She was obviously a precious friend for him, and Hiccup was happy to see her again. The boy even wondered if there was something more than friendship going on between these twos because, judging by how Hiccup was talking about her and how many things they were doing together, they obviously were really close.

The closer they were getting to the country of Broch and king Fergus' castle, the more the troup was talking about them, getting more and more excited. They were planing the things they would be doing at the festival, be it their show or the contest they were going to compete in. Snotlout bragged that he would beat everyone at the log throwing, Fishlegs spoke his doubts regarding if logic games were still up or had been removed for lack of action. Mala wanted to compete in the tournament of swords and spears. Astrid, Eret, Heather and Dagur talked about the bare hands fights.

In the middle of all this good mood, Jack felt foreign. With what the troup was telling him, the festival was an outdoor one with a really large amount of people. More than in his village, and no doubts more than in Burgess too. Finding himself in such a crowd, risking loosing control on his magic and expose his abnormality to so many people was scaring him. Little by little, he couldn't sleep again, ending up in several early morning meetings with Hiccup, even before their morning flight with Toothless.

It didn't take long for the tamer to notice something was bothering Jack, but it took longer for the boy to admit it when asked and share his anguish. Hiccup tried to reassure him, telling him his magic was nothing to be ashamed of, no matter if Burgess' people had told him otherwise. But Jack couldn't be convinced. The kind words from his friend couldn't ease him, and all his swirling thoughts ended up bringing back nightmares.

Only on the day of their arrival did Jack finally felt better, and that was only thanks to another conversation with Hiccup. After their last night at their camp, the performers were packing their belongings for the last flight to the castle. Jack, left alone in his tent since the twins were busy loading the carts with the others, was almost done packing clothes from the three of them when Hiccup came in to visit him.

The boy, not knowing why, got flustered being alone with him in a tent. Surely it was because Hiccup seemed nervous too. He was carrying a scelled vial and was twirling it in his hands, surely to keep them busy out of uneasiness. When he finally decided to speak, he handed the vial to Jack.