Long Live

Chapter 11

Hey, guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter and happy reading!

 

The friends recounted their tales on the trolls, Anna and Merida telling how scared and angry at the trolls for kidnapping them, and the others telling how worried and excited they were upon entering the trolls' home.

"I mean, that guy just sprayed what looked like dust all over my face. Twice!" Anna grumbled, crossing her arms. "Who does that?"

"Someone who wants to keep you quiet," Elsa chuckled. "The head troll said that they had to put twice the amount of sleeping powder on you to make it go into effect."

"If it wasn't for those chains and me being knocked out, I would have punched the living daylights out of them," Anna emphasized by making a fist and punching it into her palm.

"Anna, they're at least ten feet tall. You wouldn't even be able to make a scratch on them," Jack said.

"That's what you think," Anna stuck her tongue out playfully.  

"Well, the good thing is that we all came out safe and that we're friends with the trolls," Rapunzel said. The group nodded in agreement.

While the others were cracking jokes at one another and talking about nothing in particular, Jack glanced at Galaxy, who as usual was not joining in on the conversation, and walking by herself on the side. Though she wasn't particularly far from the group, it did have enough effect to give off a sign that she wanted to be alone.

Well, I'm not one to follow rules now, am I? Jack thought to himself and gradually walked to where Galaxy was.

"Hey, Galaxy," he said.

The girl turned to look at him and nodded a hello.

"I just wanted to say...well, this is kind of embarrassing for me," Jack rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "But I just wanted to say that...thanks. For you know, standing up to the trolls."

"It's no problem," Galaxy said, her tone indifferent.

"It was really quite impressive, actually," Jack chuckled, shaking his head. "I mean, don't take this offensively but it was really quite a sight to see you...you know, talking to those huge trolls."

He expected to see Galaxy flare up the slightest bit, like Elsa, Hannah, and the other girls usually did, but again she nodded silently.

"So," he drawled, looking at her. "Did you really mean it that you were going to find those people who are cutting down the trees near their home?"

Again, Galaxy turned to him, but her face showed the slightest hint of disbelief. "Of course. I did promise them, after all."

"Do you know where to start?" Jack asked. "It's like, searching for a needle in a haystack."

"I already know who they are."

"What? Really?" Jack, his mouth hanging slightly open. "How?"

This question made Galaxy hesitate. "I- I just do."

There was an awkward moment of silence, even though it was already awkward to begin with.

"Anyways," Jack said, "I'm...sorry that I doubted you. About the whole thing,"

"It's okay," Galaxy shrugged. "I'm used to it." And with that, she left him by himself and started walking to the other side to where he had previously been.

Jack kept on walking, deep in thought on what Galaxy had said.

It's okay. I'm used to it.

Have I been mean to her in the past? Jack wondered. Have I questioned her motives before?

Yes, I have. Jack thought guiltily. But is that what she really meant? Was she referring to me? Or to someone else?

"Hey, Jack!" Anna shouted, shaking him out of his thoughts. "We found a place to sleep!"

 Jack looked up at the sky and was shocked that it was already evening. He walked closer to the group.

"You were walking pretty far from us, lad," Merida said. "Something wrong?"

"No, just fine," Jack smiled, glancing at Galaxy, who had her head down.

"So where is the place exactly?" Jack asked, going back to the previous subject.

"There!" Anna replied cheerily, pointing to a small cave excitedly.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Rapunzel said. "I mean, not as wonderful as a real bed, but it's much better than the ground."

"Are you sure about this, guys?" Jack asked. "Because earlier today, we've had some pretty bad experiences with a cave."

"Oh come on," Anna said. "That all turned out for the better! And Hiccup checked the place and he said there was nothing in it."

Jack shrugged. "Okay, then."

The group did the usual that night with getting some wood for a campfire and eating some of the food King North had prepared.

"You know, I have to admit, this is much better than sleeping on the forest floor," Jack said, feeling the cold, smooth floor of the cave. The group all voiced in their agreements.

"How far are we from the Black Dragon, Hiccup?" Hannah asked.

Hiccup took out his trusty map and studied it. "We just passed the halfway mark, so we're almost there."

Jack nodded. "We're making good progress. We'll hopefully be at the Black Dragon's lair soon."

 "We'd better go to sleep soon, too," Elsa said. "We don't want this good luck to end quickly."

They all cleaned their dishes and put their leftovers in the sack for later. They put out the fire and all went to a designated part of the cave and curled themselves up.

"'Night, guys," Jack said.

"Goodnight," the rest of them said. And they all surrendered to a peaceful slumber.

Jack was lightly snoozing, when he heard a grumble.

Must be my stomach. he thought, patting it. I'll eat later. Don't want to miss every second of sleep I get. He curled up tighter, trying to go back to sleep until someone like Anna or Hannah would wake him up by throwing a rock at him.  

But the growling of his stomach wouldn't stop.

Quiet, stomach, I'm trying to- and that's when he felt something wet land on his cheek. He opened his eyes and wiped the liquid away and looked closer at it.

"Is that slobber?" Jack murmured to himself. He heard another growl, but he now knew it wasn't coming from his stomach. He slowly looked up and saw that standing directly over him was a griffon looking at him, ready for the kill.

"Great," Jack muttered. "Some way to start off a day."

AN: This chapter was kind of mostly how Jack and Galaxy interact with each other. And it looks like their luck has already ended xp. Thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter!