Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Hiccup woke up on the wrong side of the bed.

He was sleeping very soundly, leaning against Toothless in dreamland, when suddenly he was jerked back to reality when he felt his head connect with something hard. His eyes snapped open and he yelled out, "Ouch!"

"Finally!" He heard Jack say. "You can really sleep, Hic!"

"Wha-what did you do that for?" Hiccup asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's time to go!" Jack said. "The girls already left! Come on!"

Not waiting for an answer, Jack took off, leaving Hiccup and Toothless, the dragon staring after Jack with big round eyes. Sighing, Hiccup got up and onto Toothless' back, clicking his tail-wing and getting them in the air. He quickly caught up with Jack, who he knew didn't fly fast enough so that he could catch up.

"Man, what time is it?" He asked.

"Not sure," Jack said. "Before they left, Merida said something about it being eight."

Hiccup nodded. "So, how far away is Corona?"

"Just up ahead," Jack said, pointing to something in the distance. "See that? That thing that looks like a mountain?"

"Yeah," Hiccup nodded, following Jack's finger to see, what looked to be, a large mountain as Jack had said.

"That's Corona. That thing that looks like a mountain is actually the castle."

"Really?"

"Yeah. The kingdom is very wealthy, and is a very fun place," Jack smiled, but it was of sadness. "The only thing is, the kingdom's only heir, the Lost Princess, is missing."

"No kidding," Hiccup said. "Really? The Lost Princess is missing?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "I can play sarcasm too. Yeah, she's missing. The one thing is no one knows why. They say that she was stolen the day after she was born."

"Wow. Don't you think that they'd be looking for her?"

"Of course they did!" Jack shouted over the wind. "They stopped after a few years. No one could find her. But every year, on her birthday, the send out floating lanterns that are supposed to guide her home."

"That's sad," Hiccup said. "Being torn away from your family."

Jack nodded. "I guess that her birthday is today. They're going to send up the lights around ten O'clock tonight. We can join in."

"Sure," Hiccup said. "It would be a cool new experience."

Not long later, they arrived at the bridge that led to the kingdom of Cornova. Hiccup had Toothless go into the forest, but Toothless knew the call that Hiccup would do if he was in danger. Both Jack and Hiccup sat down, waiting for Merida and Rapunzel. After a few minutes, Jack suddenly tensed up. Hiccup looked, but saw nothing. "What is it?" He asked, before going silent. Jack looked over to see a person waving their hand, stopping time for a moment.

What Jack saw was the hooded figure of Pitch Black.

"What are you doing here?" Jack hissed.

Pitch smiled. "Come now, Jack, that's not the way to greet someone. I only came to warn you about something."

"What?" Jack asked, crossing his arms.

"That girl that is with you," Pitch said, looking thoughtful. "Rapunzel, her name was? Yes, she has a secret. At first, it is difficult to find, but once it is found it is obvious."