Meeting at the Crossroads

Chapter 8

Jack ran up to the stage as quick as he could.  When he tried to stop, he found himself slipping on a patch of ice. The girl turned just in time to be tackled. Wham!

They rolled in a jumble of arms and legs. They landed in a heap and few feet from the stage. Jack allowed himself to relax for a second.

Then he heard a familiar hissing sound. "Oh," the girl wailed. Jack had landed on his stomach and could only see dirt, but he had a pretty good guess what was wrong. He struggled to get up but the girl was on top of him.

"Get off," he gasped, feeling like he was slowly being crushed.

"I-I can't," she whispered, trembling.

"Why not?"

"I'm too scared!"

Jack heard the hissing getting closer and began to panic. He did not want to know what happened when these things caught up to you.

"Get off!" He pushed upward, rolling the girl to one side. Jack leapt to his feet and looked up just in time to see a dark shape hurling itself toward him. This is how it ends. He closed his eyes.

Jack heard a loud grunt, a smashing sound, and a howl. He peeked open one eye to see the monster spinning through the air to one side and crash into a tree.

The man who knocked it out of the way turned toward them. The girl, who was still on the ground, let out a scream.

The man was huge! He had bulging muscles, a thick red beard that reached halfway down his chest, and a horned helmet. He hefted a large hammer that was dripping with black liquid.

The man scanned the sky as if looking for something. "HICCUP!" he bellowed.

Starled, Jack took a step back. "Uhhhh, what?"

"Not you!" he snapped. The threw his head back and yelled even louder, if possible. "HICCUP!"

There was a flapping sound overhead and a large shadow fell over them. Jack looked up and nearly passed out. A black dragon, larger than a horse, hovered overhead. To his surprise, a small figure was riding on its back.

"Yeah, dad?" the boy called.

"What are you doing?" the man yelled. He didn't seem to only say things. He had to yell and scream them.

"Helping," his son responded. "I'll see you back on Berk...probably."

A silent exchange seemed to go between them. The father finally gave in. He grunted and ran back into the fray, waving his hammer and screaming a battle cry.

Jack wheeled around. "You have a dragon?"

The boy opened his mouth but was cut off by a different voice. "Alright, loon! Ye can let me down now!"

Jack had been so startled with the arrival of a dragon that he hadn't noticed that it was carrying a person in its claws, which was shocking since her flaming hair stood out against its dark scales.

The boy spoke softly to the beast and with a rumble, the dragon deposited the girl onto the ground. Then it landed next to them, tucking its leathery wings to its sides.

The girl leapt to her feet before Jack could help her up, spitting strands of hair out of her mouth and rightening her bow on her shoulder.

Jack recognized her.

"You're the girl who won in archery," he said.

"And the one who was sword fighting," the dragon boy added, sliding of the dragon's back and landing smoothly on the ground.

The red-haired girl shrugged. "So what?" She glanced behind Jack. "Who's yer friend?"

Jack had completely forgotten about the blonde girl. He turned to her. She was still on the ground. He held out his hand and after hesitating, she let Jack pull her to her feet.

She quickly let go of his hand and shifted uncomfortably, twisting a lock of hair. Jack gestured to her. "This is...uh..." He faltered. "What is your name?"

"It's Raphabelle or something," Dragon boy put in helpfully.

"Rapunzel," she corrected.

"I'm Jack."

"Merida," red-haired said.

"Hiccup," the other boy finished.

They shook hands.