Watching the "Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons"

Part 6: Lost Stories

Toothless nods and sends the small blast at the wood. Merida and Rapunzel come back with some fish. They set them on ground. Merida starts cooking some of the fish and gives the rest to Toothless and Storm. The six sit around the fire.
It's a quiet meal for them, so Jack decides to break the ice. "So, who wants to talk first?"
Hiccup gives him a deadpan look. "Apparently you since you decided to talk."
"Wow, Hic feeling the love," said Jack dryly.
"You speak, you talk," Hiccup stated, equally as dryly. "Simple."
The girls and boys all laughed while Jack glares at the cheeky Viking. "Fine. As you know, I'm Jack Frost. I lived for three hundred years, bringing snow days and fun to the kids."
"But what about your parents?" Rapunzel asked with curiosity. "Do spirits even have parents?"
Jack flinched back at Rapunzel's question and looked away from her question. A touch of tears entered his blue eyes. Erika noticed this and gently placed a hand on top his.
"I had a mom...once," Jack said. "Back when I was alive."
"Alive?" Hiccup echoed.
Jack looked down to the ground, sad for mentioning the life he had before. Unknowing, he made the area around him cold, and tiny snowflakes began to fall everywhere.
Jack looked down to the ground, sad for mentioning the life he had before. Unknowing, he made the area around him cold, and tiny snowflakes began to fall everywhere.
"I don't remember much back then," he said, trying not to cry. "I know I had a mother, but no matter what, I can't remember her face. I do remember my sister though."
"You had a sister?" Rapunzel asked.
"Yeah, I think her name was... was..." He struggled to remember his own sister's name. The snow seemed to react to his feelings and began to rush everywhere. Rapunzel went toward Jack, and pulled him close to comfort him, gently stroking his hair. It calmed him down a bit, and it slowed the snow down a bit.
"Thanks," he said like a moaning child.
"You're welcome," she said with a sweet smile.
"Anyway," Jack continued his story. "One day, my sister and I were out ice skating, but she accidentally went on to thin ice, and it began to crack under her feet. I managed to get her out of there, but I fell in myself. The water was so cold, it froze my entire body. It then became dark, very dark. Next thing I knew, I emerge from the pond, and became Jack Frost."
The Guardians felt guilty for not trying to learn more about the boy. Especially his lack memory of what happened in the past. He's a great Guardian, despite his troublemaking nature and mischievous pranks.
"Wow," Merida said awestruck, which was what everyone thought as well.
"Ever since then," Jack said, "I've been flying around, creating snow days, and working so hard to be believed in. But it was rough when people don't think you exist."
Rapunzel held Jacks hand in sympathy. "Do you have a believer?"
"Yeah," he said with a smile. "His name is Jamie. He's a cool kid, big believer in anything. He's the one who helped us stop Pitch before. After that, we tried to spend a lot of time together." His expression changed to a sad one at the thought of Jamie.
"What's wrong?" Rapunzel asked while dusting some snow off her hair.
"The problem is that he's mortal," Jack answered sadly. "Soon, he'll grow up, and have his own kids. What he can't see me anymore? What if I will spend another three hundred years alone?"
Jack took the moment and looked at these people. They looked like they are being sincere and caring. He can officially call them his friends. It was a surprising start, but it seems that they are finally coming together as a team.
"Thank you," he said with gratitude.
"Group hug!" Rapunzel squealed, startling everyone.
The Big Five and their friends embraced each other warmly. Though it seemed a little uncomfortable for some, everyone eventually embraced the group hug. At that moment, everything seemed right and calm.
Jack took the moment and looked at these people. They looked like they are being sincere and caring. He can officially call them his friends. It was a surprising start, but it seems that they are finally coming together as a team.
"Thank you," he said with gratitude.
"Group hug!" Rapunzel squealed, startling everyone. Though it seemed a little uncomfortable for some, everyone eventually embraced the group hug. At that moment, everything seemed right and calm. Even the cold wind and snow disappeared, to make the scene even more perfect.
Once they split up from with their embrace, Merida decided to fix the tension by telling her story. "You already know my name already so not bothering to say it. I'm the Princess of Dumbruch and have three little devils as brothers. My dad and I get along well. In fact, my dad taught me how to sword fight and archery. I love archery and love riding Angus. My mother and me? Forget it. We don't get along at all. All my mother does is try and control me. She took away things from me, little by little. She took away archery, then sword fighting, then couple days ago, she took away my freedom. She sent letters to the three other clans, telling them that their heirs can come and seek my hand in marriage. As soon as I found out, I exploded. When my mother told me that I have to stop being me, I ran away to be free. Flynn, Rapunzel, Pascal, and Angus joined me obviously. Anyway, Rapunzel your turn."
Merida huffed. "Why can't she see that this is me? I don't want to change who I am for her."
"Well, if she never sees who you really are, you will always have a place with us," Hiccup said.
"Thank you, Hic," Merida smiled.
Elinor felt her tears running down from her face at this. Why couldn't she just listen to her daughter instead of making the situation worse?
"Okay, so I'm Rapunzel or Punzie as Hiccup likes to call me. I love to paint, bake, read, sing, dance, and play chess." Hiccup smiled at her before he continued drawing in his notebook. "In the next three days, it'll be my eighteenth birthday."
"Happy early birthday!" exclaimed Jack, Hiccup, and Erika.
Rapunzel sighed as she pulled back some of her hair, to reveal a short lock of brown hair. "Mother said that when I was young, people wanted to cut my hair, and use it for themselves. But once it's cut, it turns brown and loses its powers." She lets her hair droop again as she looks down sadly. "A gift like that had to be protected. That's why mother let... that's why I..."
"You never left the tower," Erika finished for her empathetically.
"Might as well go next." Everyone looked at Flynn curiously. "I grew up in an orphanage. My father had given me up. The nurse could have told me who my father was, but she wasn't that nice. As soon as I turned fifteen, she kicked me out and called me a thief since, to her, I stole so much time from her when she could have done so many other things. Since no one would hire me to work for them, I had to steal to live. Three years ago, I stole some food, the guards came after me. Merida came out of nowhere and told me to get on Angus. After we were far away enough, she wrapped up the arm that was glazed by an arrow. She even threatened to punch me in the face if I called her princess." All of them laughed at that.
"Where's the nurse, Flynn? I want some target practice," Merida said, grabbing her bow.
Flynn grabbed the bow out of Merida's hands. Merida tried to get it back, but Flynn kept it out of her reach.
"Nope! You aren't getting this back unless you promise to not use target people with it. Save your arrows," Flynn said.
Merida huffed, but nodded.
"After hearing the guards come after us, Merida, Angus, and I hide behind some vines where I've met Rapunzel and Pascal in the Tower with Merida. We talked for a bit until we had to leave. Merida invited me to stay in the castle so I wouldn't have to steal anymore. So, since then, besides hiding from the guards and sneaking everywhere I went in Merida's castle, that's it."
"Seems like that was fun after awhile." Jack smirked at Flynn in amusement.
Flynn chuckled. "It was. Especially when the guards have no idea where their helmets go when it was right over their heads."
The Scottish guards glared at Flynn who just smiled cheekily and waved at them.
More laughter.
It's silent and the others realize that it's either Hiccup's turn or Erika's turn. They look at Hiccup to see him drawing in his journal and Erika was stroking the fireplace with a slightly burnt stick.
Hiccup dreaded this. Sure, he may have said a few things to them about his past and they saw some of it, but he never likes speaking of it.
Erika swallowed and looked down, looking unsure about the situation. She's unsure how to tell them her past.
"I guess it's my turn." Hiccup glanced up and a small, but grateful smile can be seen as he gazed at Erika. "When I was a little girl, I get separated from my birth family and I was raised in Spiritwatch Village Orphanage."
"Your birth family?" Rapunzel echoed, her expression filled with sympathy.
The others glanced at Erika sympathetically, but she looked away from the others, hating the pity she was getting from the others.
"Yes, but I don't remember much. It was so long ago. Just a few pictures in my mind." At that, a flash of white light happened and a little girl revealed herself and gently hold an unknown man's hands. "I remember my father's hands. They were rough, like sandstone, but so gentle." At that, another flash of white light happened again and a little girl's laughter could be heard when she played with a shield. "And I remember the smell of his wooden shield. I don't think I was supposed to play with it, but he let me anyway." Then everything went back to normal on the screen with Erika speaking to the others. She soon revealed her hunting horn to her friends. "And this. He gave me this horn. I don't know if it means something, but whenever I look at it, I think of him. I just wish I knew who he was." She sighed as she put her horn away. "And, for the longest time, I've been living in abandoned cabin in the woods and been taking care of myself once I became fourteen. Only the dragons in the area helped me."
Erika looked down from everyone's eyes, she doesn't want anyone's pity. She felt herself stiffened in surprise when she felt Hiccup hold her hand, Jack patted her shoulder gently, Merida gently rubbed her arm, and Rapunzel gave Erika a warm embrace. She slowly felt her loneliness ebbing away from her heart. She found her new family.
Jack looks at the auburn-haired boy with a questioning look. "Hiccup?"
Hiccup ignores him and continues to draw in his journal.
"Hiccup, tell us your story," implored Merida.
"Erika already knows, she can tell you," Hiccup admitted quietly.
Erika gave him a grim, but sympathetic smile. "It will be best if you tell them, Hic."
Hiccup looks at them before looking at Toothless behind him. Toothless nodded with a smile. Hiccup sighed, knowing that he will not win this one and stole a glance with Merida. "Your relationship with your mother is like me and my father. Berk is a clan of strong Vikings. My father is Stoick the Vast, Chief of the Berk Tribe. His motto is that, "A Chief protects his own." But he cares more about the tribe than me, his own son. He can call it what he wants, but he acted like a Chief instead of a father to me. He didn't care if I got beaten up, scarred, and made fun of the people in the tribe or the other teens. The only ones who cared were Gobber, the blacksmith, and Gothi, the Healer and the Elder. I won't go into detail about my life because it's full of pain and it's dark. Everyone treated me like I would break myself, or the village. Or just acted like I didn't exist. I tried to tell my father about all the bullying and... beating, but he never listened. The only way I could possibly climb the ladder and get his attention was to kill a dragon."
There were some gasps. Many people couldn't believe this. He took nine years of abuse, neglect, and being looked down upon and acts as if it's nothing.
Erika remained silent on Hiccup's behalf since she heard his story before. Rapunzel held a hand over her mouth and looked like she wanted to hug Hiccup, but was respecting his space. Merida remained silent on Hiccup's behalf. She knew better than anyone what it was like to have a parent that doesn't listen to you or understand you. Jack was similar to Merida. It was one thing to not know that you're real. It was another thing entirely to know you exist, and people just ignore you regardless. Jack knows how both of those aspects feel.
"So, I shot Toothless down."
Jack looked between the dragon in question and the boy, but the dragon didn't even look bitter, let alone angry. In fact, he looked sad, but not for him being shot down, but for Hiccup looking like he might cry.
"No one believed me though. Never did actually. So I decided to go after him myself. I found him. I held my dagger right over his head." Hiccup's voice started to shake as he mimes holding a dagger, his hands shaking in their place as well. "He didn't even try to getaway. He just looked at me and... gave up. He just laid his head down and gave up."
Tears began to well up and show in Rapunzel's eyes, and Jack, Merida, and Erika were all silent as graves. Toothless warbled soothingly and Stormstrike warbled sympathetically.
"I couldn't do it. Instead, I let him go. He looked ready to kill me, but he didn't. Instead, he let me live when a dragon is supposed to 'always go for the kill'. So I continued to wonder; why didn't he?"
Hiccup sighed sadly before a trail of golden sand came into his view. He watched it carefully, before following the trail to see where it came from, and saw Sandy, who was silently encouraging him to touch it. He did so with a light tap of his finger, and a barn owl spread his wings in front of him and flew around him, before dissipating.
Jack, Erika, Merida, and Rapunzel did the same. Jack got a dolphin, which swam around him and did many tricks and summersaults. Erika got a tiger, which ran around her head and roared fiercely. Merida got a bear, which stood on his hind legs, appearing to be sniffing her before galloping around her hair. And Rapunzel got a canary, to which the blonde cooed at as it sang and fluttered around her head before snuggling her. That immediately lifted their spirits.
"I eventually decided to figure things out for myself, and I learned that everything we ever knew about dragons was wrong. That they were not as bad as they were made out to be. I tried to tell the people in my village, but they didn't understand. So I left."
The camera changed to Jack, who was still watching him with sympathetic eyes. Erika smiled at him knowingly and her eyes shone with sympathy. Merida looked on with understanding and respect, for still coming on strong despite all the obstacles thrown at him. Rapunzel didn't hold back anymore and threw her arms around the younger boy, much to his surprise. But he slowly wrapped his arms around her as well, excepting the warm gesture as Jack patted his shoulder while Merida softly shoved his other with her fist, Flynn ruffled his hair gently, and Erika nudged him gently.
The camera cuts to Toothless's face, close up and with a smile on his face.
Rapunzel did the same, and Hiccup couldn't help, but chuckle at the blonde copying her future self's action.
Rapunzel eventually pulled away and wiped her tears away. "So, what happened next?"
Hiccup then smiled a true, genuine smile. "Well, afterwards, I got the shock of my life and found out that not all Vikings are complete dragon killers."
Down below with the midst of the dragons and the dragon lovers were the mentioned (and legendary) Dragon Riders: There was Dagur sitting next to a Triple Stryke named Sleuther, along with his younger sister, Heather, who was gently stroking a Razorwhip named Windshear. Gustav was leaning casually against a Monstrous Nightmare named Fanghook. Speedifist was stroking a Deadly Nadder named Slingshot. Wartihog was playing with a Hideous Zippleback named Snip and Snap. Clueless was cuddling with a Gronckle named Sandstone. Eret was petting a Rubblehorn named Skullcrusher. Enya was gently petting a pretty Light Fury named Luna. Dawn was leaning lightly on a Sand Wraith named Sunblaze. Ragnar was petting a Boneknapper named Doc. Lastly there's Nova, who was leaning against a Stormcutter named Rainflight. 
Everybody from Berk was in shock when they saw the thought-to-be-mythical dragon. They got the information from Gobber, but they all thought he was making that up. "AH-Ha! I told you all! None of you believed me! The lot o' ye thought tha' this old codger had gone mad, didn' yez?! Tha' humble pie doesn't taste good, now doesn't it?"
A family from Berk was in shock when they saw the supposed-to-be-dead girl had bonded with a dragon who kidnapped her and supposedly killed her. Her father was being comforted by his wife and children when they saw their daughter/sister).
And once more, an uproar occurred. This time, Spirit got too annoyed with all the erupting noises. "QUIET!"
That silenced them pretty quickly.
Hiccup exchanged a smile with Erika. "A month after me and Toothless left Berk, I've came across many friends. And Erika is one of them." The image darkened and revealed Hiccup and Toothless meeting Erika for the first time and helping her bond with Storm. (Viggo's eyes glistened with unshed tears. She looks so much like his late wife). "Then, I've returned to Berk to find a young boy who was... kinda like me."  The image darkened and revealed a young Gustav meeting Hiccup and Erika in the woods, a docile Monstrous Nightmare and their dragons stood with them nearby. (Gustav's parents looked down, looking guilty and sad). "I soon went to nearby islands where I've found more Dragon Riders." The image darkened and revealed Hiccup helping Speedifist, Wartihog, Clueless, and Enya bond with their respective dragons in the woods (The mentioned four kids smiled at each other, they follow their brother anywhere). "Though, there are times I have to rescue them." The image darkened and revealed Hiccup and Toothless finding Heather in a shipwreck on a beach (Dagur placed a protective hand on Heather's hand). The image darkened and revealed Hiccup helping dislodge a snapper trap from Ragnar's injured leg and was immediately treated (Ragnar cringed at the sight). "But sometimes, I meet them by chance." The image darkened and revealed Hiccup reuniting with Nova in a forest full of dragons. (Spitelout and his family still couldn't believe she has been living with dragons this whole time and hadn't returned to Berk). "But some had to redeem their past actions." The image darkened and revealed Hiccup shaking hands with Dagur, both of them smiling warmly. Then the image changed and showed Hiccup riding Toothless while Dagur was riding on Sleuther nearby and Heather could be seen riding with them on Windshear. (Dagur smiled at the sight. That's when he had mended his bonds with his siblings). "While others decided to change their fates." The image darkened and revealed Hiccup giving Eret his Rumblehorn (Eret smiled warmly as he remembered that day). But the image disappeared and it returned to the campsite with its occupants. "As two years passed, all of us Dragon Riders had made ourselves at home at Dragon's Edge. We battled many Dragon Hunters and Dragon Flyers. We had befriended and allied ourselves to different tribes and new friends who actually wanted to live in peace with dragons. We rescued people who wants to coexist with dragons peacefully. And we sometimes rescue people who have to be redeemed. We made it our sworn duty to protect and defend the dragons."
"And we made Hiccup our Chief of Dragon's Edge," added Erika.
Before today, if anyone had said that Hiccup would end up leading a tribe the Hooligans would've had so good a laugh, some people would end up dead from laughing the oxygen out of their system. Now, after everything they've seen and now know, the Hooligans could only envy the Dragon Riders, considering what Hiccup would end up doing for their village.
Stoick just watched the screen with the mix of pride, shock, and rejection. His son would end up leading a tribe other than the Hooligans. He felt put off for the fact that not he, but some stranger would train his son for chiefing.
"You can imagine how startled he was," admitted Erika with a sympathetic smile. She could understand Hiccup's reluctance to the chiefdom. It took a good amount of training, confidence, and judgment to serve as a chief. Naturally, this included making several unpopular, if not questionable, decisions that would ensure the safety of the tribe. In the end, there had to be a mutual faith and understanding between the people and their leader, that he made his decisions for the good of all and not just a select few.
Hiccup blushed with embarrassment at Erika's praise. "Thanks Lightning."
She smirked proudly at her nickname. "Sure thing Night." Hiccup nudged her playfully and they both laughed. But they noticed their friends' confusion. "Just in case something happened to us, we gave each 'false' names to hide our true identities. All of the other Dragon Riders have it."
Many people were stunned by this. All of the Dragon Riders have false names to hide their true identities? But some of the adults understood that Hiccup would want to keep his family and friends safe from harm with his life. The mentioned Dragon Riders smiled, considering that their 'false' names came from their dragon partners.
"Everyone." The camera revealed on its left side was Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. While the camera revealed on its right side was Jack, Hiccup, Erika, Toothless, and Storm. But seemingly rising from the center of the flames of the campfire was Merida, who looked every inch as a queen. "Me, Rapunzel, and Flynn are heading towards the Kingdom of Corona." Merida gazed at them warmly. "You're free to join us."
"What?"
"What/what?"
"Roar?"
"Roar?"
Most laughed at the Dragons' involvements with the question. Other were just as curious about Merida's request.
"Come with us to see the Lanterns of Corona," joined in Rapunzel. "That's where we're going. They do this every year on the same day, the same day as my birthday actually, but that's beside the point. You should come! You might enjoy yourself!"
"It's your birthday. I wouldn't want to impose—" Hiccup sounded surprised, uncertain even.
"Not at all! You're more than welcome! Right guys?" Rapunzel said excitedly.
Meanwhile, Gothel was glaring at the Rapunzel on the screen. The more people she involves in her life, it will be harder to convince her of her original views.
"Yeah, sure thing," Flynn said.
"I have no problems with it," replied Merida.
Rapunzel smiled at their responses, before turning back to Hiccup for his answer. He was unsure of how to respond to such a generous offer before Toothless nudged his shoulder. Toothless gestured his head to the three, conveying him to say yes. He looked to Toothless, who nodded before he sighed and turned to the others with a small smile. "We're in." But he glanced at Erika and Jack Frost. "What about you two?"
Erika smiled and exchanged a nod with Storm. "Fine by us."
"Sounds fun," agreed Jack with a smile.