Hey guys! I'm sorry for not updating for so long, but life's been busy (I'll spare you guys the lengthy apology). So...longish chapter for an even longer wait?
Chapter Six: Lost
It wasn't wise to trust mortals, that much Pitch knew. They had greedy desires that often clouded their minds from clear, rational thoughts. But he also knew that there was no way for him to regain this full strength without assistance from humans. And the Prince from the Southern Isles seemed to be the perfect pawn.
"I gave you power," Pitch whispered into the shadows. "Use it wisely."
His words seemed to have traveled through the air, carrying it's power all the way to the cold mountains outside the Kingdom. Hans grinned. "Of course I will." The Prince turned to the winter spirit standing in front of him, noticing Jack's perplexed face. "Are you an acquaintance of the Queen?"
"Y-yes," Jack stammered. He knew Elsa and Anna, and that they were the ones who called the Defenders to Arendelle. Other than that, there wasn't anything tying him to the Royal Family of Arendelle. It should be safe to reveal that information. He lowered his staff.
Hans continued to seem rather confused. "Has her majesty the queen and the princess not told you of me?"
"No," Jack replied, slightly caught off guard by the question. "I don't think they have." His eyes narrowed. Why is he asking me this?
"Oh," Hans murmured. "I thought the Queen sent you to find me. I am an old friend of the Arendelle Royal Family: a friend from a cabin up in the mountains that the family used to visit many years ago. I told them that I was coming for a visit and sent a messenger ahead. But I was held back several days by a bunch of dark beasts! I thought that the Queen or Princess had sent someone to offer me some aid. Would you be kind enough to escort me to the Kingdom of Arendelle?"
For a moment, Jack pursed his lips together. "I'm afraid the kingdom isn't the safest place right now. You'll be much safer back at your home in the mountains."
"Why? What has happened to the kingdom?"
Jack had to choose his words wisely. He had to be careful not to reveal the truth behind the Nightmares, and to not dreadfully frighten this humble man of the true dangers of Pitch. "It is under attack by an old enemy."
"I see," said Hans as he eyed Arendelle in the distance. He caught sight of the castle and fought the urge to march down to the gates, make his way through the palace doors and take the head of both the queen and the princess. Taking in a deep breath, Hans calmed himself. His chance would come. And completing this facade would bring him a single step closer. He needed the spirit close.
"Then, perhaps, young man," Hans began, straining his voice, "could you be so kind as to escort me back to my home?"
Jack hesitated. What if he were to harm innocent bystanders as well? He took a step back. "I'm not sure that's a great idea, sir."
Hans hid his expression of annoyance. I need him closer, not farther, he grunted mentally. He quickly placed a hand below his cloak and across his waist and let out a horrible wince of agony, dropping onto his knees on the ground. His fingers, covered by the cloak, wrapped themselves around the hilt of a hidden sword.
Panic struck Jack. He rushed over. "Hey, mister!" Jack squatted down and placed his staff on the ground next to him, holding out both hands to support the man in front of him. "Are you alright?"
Hans forced a wan smile. "I'm alright. But the question is... are you?"
Jack's eyes widened. "What?"
Hans drew his sword, arcing it straight into the air. With Jack at such close quarters, he had no hope of dodging, and the cold metal sliced the skin on his cheek. Jack's hand shot to his face, feeling warm blood against his skin. He began to reach for his staff beside him when a booted foot kicked the wooden weapon out from his reach. Hans pulled the staff towards himself, a huff of black sand pushing the staff up into his hands.
Fear clutched Jack's heart. "How did you-"
"I'm acquainted with an old friend of yours as well." Hans smiled sinisterly. Jack took the first motion to get up to his feet, and Hans made his move before the winter spirit had a chance to get into a proper stance. In a swift movement, he threw the sword to the ground, placed both hands on the staff, lifted up a knee and slammed the staff onto his thigh. With a menacing crunch, the wood stretched for a split second before snapping in half.
Jack screamed in pain. His body writhed as stabs of suffering exploded from within his senses. Within seconds, Jack found himself on the floor, fingers digging into the dirt. His breathing turned short and rigid, each intake of breath sending another wave of agony through his body. The torture slowly subsided, but every movement made his muscles ache. Through scrunched eyes, Jack eyed Hans, who had a victorious and satisfied glint in his eye.
"Pitch made the mistake of throwing the broken staff at you. I'm not going giving you any chance to get this weapon of yours back." The young prince didn't give him another glance as he slid the broken pieces of Jack's staff into a pocket in his cloak. Hans then collected his sword as he summoned a wave of onyx sand to appear at his feet. "Have fun being alone, Jack."
Hans then disappeared into a cloud of black dust, leaving Jack frightened, powerless, and more alone than ever.
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"Do we have enough doctors to take care of all the patients?" Elsa asked one of the guards urgently. Her eyes reflected her worry and concern for the wellbeing of her people. The room was filled with victims of the Nightmare attack from the previous night, lined across the wall in their beds. Many were wrapped in bandages and were unconscious while others had to wait to be attended to.
The guard nodded his head. "I think we can handle this many cases with our current number of doctors. If we need more, there are herbalists in the kingdom we may be able to send for. The villagers have taken refuge in the ballroom, so the herbalists will most likely be among them."
"It's alright," said Elsa, a small weight being lifted off her chest. "I don't think that will be necessary. The kingdom is in enough panic as it is." Her attention landed on a young man laid out in front of her. Sven stood beside his rider with Olaf at his sides. Kristoff was conscious, but was covered in bandages, and was advised to limit his movement for the next week.
The young queen enjoyed the moment of peace. Arendelle had one chaotic night and she wasn't looking forward to another insane situation. And now that the Defenders of Realms were present, Elsa was assured that they would be able to handle the situation and purge the kingdom of these beasts they call Nightmares.
An agonizing bellow tore through the corridors of Arendelle's palace. Sven and Olaf jumped in surprise. Gasps and shrieks came from the villagers as they sat up from their beds. The doctors quickly urged for them to lie back down, but everyone was filled with too much fear to rest. Elsa whipped her head towards the source of the roar.
Anna and the Defenders are in that direction. A cold thought struck her. That was Hiccup's dragon. Something must have happened.
Elsa turned to the villagers. "Rest easy," she declared. "I will go see to the noise on my own."
"Your majesty!" one of the guards spoke up. "Please, allow us to come with you."
She assumed the worst, and Elsa predicted that another Nightmare assault on the castle had already begun. "No, I need you to stay and protect the people. They need the protection more than I do."
Elsa turned to leave when a voice from one of the peasants stopped her. "Your Majesty!"
She stopped at the door, meeting the man's gaze. He gripped a wound at his side, wincing at the gesture. Through a strained voice, he spoke, "Please return to us safely."
Elsa gave the man a warm smile. "I will." The queen made her leave from the medical bay, failing to notice the small snowman that trailed just behind the tail of her royal cloak. Elsa felt unease gnaw at her from all angles. If the Nightmares really were attacking, Anna could be in danger. The mere thought of her sister in jeopardy sent Elsa running down the hallways. The dining room entranced appeared to her right. She grabbed the handles and forcefully pulled them open. To her surprise, the tables and seats were completely empty.
A frustrated sigh escaped Elsa. Where could her sister be? She would have been interested in the abilities of the Defenders. They would be in the empty room at the end of the corridor. Elsa rushed through the palace once again, more frantic than with her last sprint. The moment the doors to the room came into sight, Elsa lashed out her arm, a flurry of frost violently pushing the doors open.
"What happened?" The words escaped from her mouth of their own volition. The sight that greeted Elsa was not what she had anticipated. Instead of finding black horses ravaging the room, Anna, Merida and Rapunzel were standing on their feet. But the young viking was crouched down next to his dragon, his hand on Toothless' neck, the dragon's skin not the hue of ebony black Elsa remembered seeing.
"What happened?" she repeated breathlessly. This time, she caught the attention of Anna.
"Jack accidentally struck Toothless."
"What?" Elsa whispered, her eyes widening. "Does that mean..."
Anna nodded slowly. "His heart's frozen. We're going to have to find a way to thaw it. Pitch then possessed each of us, making us say some things we really shouldn't have to Jack. Now he ran off and we don't know where he is."
Elsa's mind slowly comprehended the story her sister was telling her. Jack Frost, leader of the Defenders of Realms, who had similar powers as herself, was going through the exact same experience she went through a year ago. He's afraid that he'll harm anyone else with his powers. He's just like me.
"If Jack bothered to stop and think about what we were saying," Merida began, "maybe he would have figured out that it wasn't us doing the talking."
"It doesn't really matter," Hiccup replied. "We should have been able to stop Pitch from controlling us in the first place. We're all to blame here."
A moment of silence quieted the room, only interrupted by the huffs coming from Toothless' nostrils. Rapunzel then decided to speak up. "Anna, how do we thaw Toothless' heart?"
The young princess paused to think for a moment. "When my heart was thawed, I committed an act of true love to my sister when I saved her from Hans when he tried to kill her. I think it has to be an action between the attacker and the one that was struck, since when Kristoff and Olaf tried to help me, nothing happened. And it doesn't have to be a romantic form of love. Familial love works."
"Then so would friendship," said Hiccup. "Is there a way for us to slow the freezing process?"
"The easiest way is to keep him warm," Anna explained. Toothless, as if understanding her words, started to puff out smoke from his nostrils and mouth. Hiccup, with his hand against the Night Fury's skin, began to feel it warm as Toothless' scales stopped it's slow transformation to gray, halting at an incredibly dark shade of silver. The dragon lifted himself up on his legs and shook his head, wiggling down all the way to his tail before nudging his head to the broken glass window.
"Alright." Hiccup pushed himself up to his feet, picking up his shield and strapping it to the side of Toothless' saddle. "I'm going after Jack. The rest of you find a way to track down Pitch. He's done some serious damage, and I think we should give him some payback." Anger dwelled inside Hiccup. He knew what it was like to have no friends to rely on, and to be completely different from everyone else. Hiccup and the others had unwillingly forced Jack away, leaving him alone. Wasn't three hundreds years of solitude enough for him? They were Jack's own teammates: his most trusted friends. Even if it wasn't something they did purposely, how could they even do such a thing? Would Jack even bother to listen to any of them if they told him that he needed to come back?
"I'm coming with you," Elsa suddenly declared. Her words snapped Hiccup right out of his thoughts. The queen looked at him with resolute eyes. "Jack is just like me. I went through a similar experience when I accidentally revealed my powers to the people. I was worried I couldn't control it and that I would hurt others, so I fled into the mountains. I think I can talk some sense into him."
Without protest, Hiccup nodded as he swung his leg across Toothless' back, propping himself onto the dragon's saddle. His prosthetic foot clicked into place. Taking a deep breath in, Elsa mimicked the rider's movements. She felt strange to be on the back of a dragon, as she had only ridden horses in the past.
"Hold tight, your Majesty," Hiccup advised. Once he felt Elsa's nervous hands at the sides of his waist, his feet elbowed Toothless lightly, and the Night Fury pounced into the air. Elsa had to hold in a yelp of surprise, caught off guard by the sudden jerking movement. Toothless, Hiccup and Elsa then disappeared, rocketing out through the shattered window.
Merida turned to Rapunzel and Anna. "Come on. We had better get going if we want to find Pitch by the time they get back."
Rapunzel replied with a stern nod.
"Hold on for a moment," said Anna, her voice compassionate. "I want to go check on someone."
Hidden by the shadows of the corridors, Olaf swallowed a gasp of surprise as he quickly dashed off back to the infirmary.
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The summer air above Arendelle was warm, much warmer than Hiccup had expected to be, and he admitted that the kingdom had better weather than the frigid winds and heavy rains of Berk. He enjoyed being in the skies again. Despite the sense of urgency of the flight, Hiccup loved the freedom and the sheer weightlessness. Though, it does take some time to get used to. Around five minutes into the flight, Hiccup felt Elsa's death grip on his waist and shoulders weaken.
As battered and ruined Arendelle was below them, the scenery from the sky was magnificent. The ocean stretched out as far as the eye can see, it's surface reflecting the brilliant lights of the sun, which dominated through a small gap in the otherwise massive expanse of gray clouds.
"I've seen the sea from the castle towers and it's nothing like this," Elsa breathed. "It's beautiful."
Hiccup smiled. "Flying is amazing wherever you do it. Right, bud?"
Toothless looked up at his rider and grinned. Hiccup then straightened himself. "Alright, we're looking for Jack. Any idea where he might be?"
"After I went a little crazy at the castle, I crossed the fjord and went into the mountains. It's an ideal spot to be alone."
Hiccup nodded. "To the mountains it is." He tilted Toothless' stirrup, opening the dragon's prosthetic tail. There was a sudden burst of speed, sending the group propelling through the sky, and Elsa's nails into Hiccup's shoulder. She didn't care if the viking was much smaller than her. He was much more sturdy on a dragon as she was, and Elsa wasn't going to take chances of falling off. On the other hand, she should be careful not to freeze Hiccup's arms.
As the lining of trees closed in on them, Toothless slowed down, and Hiccup directed his dragon just above the canopy. "Jack would probably be down there somewhere if he's not flying. Keep your eyes peeled, Toothless. He shouldn't be too hard to find. Aside from his pants that blend nicely into the landscape, the shirt and hair ought to give him away."
Elsa redirected her gaze at the maze of green below, searching for any signs of a blue sweatshirt or snow white hair. The branches and foliage seemed to have blocked out everything. But even amidst the trees, Elsa caught sight of a bright silver beneath the leaves. "There," she said, pointing to her left. Hiccup's eyes followed to where she pointed, and corrected Toothless' flight path to match the trajectory.
It lead them to a small clearing, and as they closed in, Hiccup's mind started racing. What was he supposed to say to Jack? Was sorry even going to cut it? Even more so, what does Jack have to say to him?
Gulping down the anxiety, Hiccup touched Toothless down in the clearing. Swiftly, Elsa leapt off, and rushed to Jack. The winter spirit sat cross-legged on the dirt, staring into empty space. He seemed so lost in his thoughts that he never noticed anyone coming up to him, caught by surprise when Elsa called out his name.
"Jack?"
"Elsa!" Jack jumped to his feet, turning around. He realized his mistake and quickly corrected himself. "I mean... Your Majesty!" His glance wandered past Elsa's shoulder, landing on the viking that stood behind her. On instinct, Jack took a step back. "Hiccup? What are you... Why are you here?"
The boy nodded nervously, pursing his lips. "About what happened... Jack-" Hiccup was cut off by a sudden retort from Jack.
"No! Every single one of you should just stay away from me!" Jack took several strides backwards. "I make a mess of everything! I can't even keep my own teammates safe!" Ice started gathering at his feet, the sound of light cackles of forming frost echoing in the clearing. It sped down the grass, turning them white.
Elsa paled. Oh no.
"Jack!" Hiccup yelled. "We know that you've been feeling uneasy about your position as leader the entire time! How come you never told any of us? Rapunzel, Merida, any one of us would have been able to help. Instead, you kept it bottled in, only to let Pitch use it to his advantage! Come on, man. Get it together. Control it."
"I can't!" Jack snapped. "I lost my staff. I can't control anything properly right now!" The ice crawled up the trunks of the nearby trees, and Hiccup felt the ground turn cold beneath his boot. Toothless whimpered.
"What happened to your staff?" Hiccup asked.
"A guy named Hans took it and broke it."
Elsa's eyes widened. "Hans?"
Panic was rushing through Jack's voice. "I don't know what's going on. Hiccup, I'm a danger to the Defenders. You guys should keep your distance from me. How are you even talking to me after what I did to Toothless?"
Hiccup paused. What was he supposed to say to that?
Elsa took a single step forward. "Jack," she began, her voice calm and soft. "You've got to calm yourself down. After that, we'll rendezvous with the other Defenders of Realms. Everything's going to be okay."
Jack was confused. He cared about his friends, but they were the same ones who hated him for what he did: for striking one of their own. How could he face them?
I can't. Jack turned on his feet and sprinted, disappearing into the woods. Hiccup called out his name, but Jack ignored it completely. Elsa immediately gave chase. Hiccup attempted to catch her attention, tell the Queen that it would be faster if they were to chase down Jack on Toothless, but Elsa had already gone, blending into the forest just as well as Jack.
Hiccup saddled himself up and prepared for Toothless to launch himself into the sky. The dragon didn't. Instead, Toothless turned his head around, his teeth appearing from his gums, and from his throat came a low, threatening ground.
"What's the matter, bud?" Hiccup asked. He followed the Night Fury's head, and caught a glimpse of a black figure speeding through the trees. For a moment, Hiccup thought it was his imagination. But it appeared again, closer this time. It zipped right him, arching and vanishing once again. From the shadow came a steady trail of black dust.
Hiccup fought back a gasp. There was only one thing he knew that left behind remnants of black sand. He turned Toothless around, ready to pounce, but he paused. Hiccup looked back, into the direction in which Jack and Elsa had ran off, before turning for another glance at the trail in front of him. He bit his lip.
Her Majesty can handle Jack. She's much more skilled and she has more experience, Hiccup thought. Leaning down towards the head of his dragon, Hiccup gave his order. "Let's follow this thing, Toothless."
The Night Fury snorted before shooting forward, chasing after the black figure.
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Anna, Merida and Rapunzel gathered around a single bed in the infirmary, the patient wrapped in fresh cloth with his mountain cap sitting on his chest. Sven huffed softly, ruffling the man's hair.
"So this is Christopher," said Merida.
"It's Kristoff," Anna replied, "but I guess Christopher is close enough."
Kristoff propped open his eyes. Even wounded, the girls caught the slight sense of annoyance in his gaze. Slowly, Kristoff lifted himself up into a sitting position, and Sven moved back to give his partner some room. Kristoff winced, but fought the urge to grip his bandages. Anna was instantly at his side.
"You need to stay down," she instructed.
Merida leaned in towards Rapunzel. "It would be nice if you still had that healing hair of yours right now."
"I wish I did," Corona's princess whispered in return.
Anna placed a hand on Kristoff's back, supporting him as she said, "I came to see how you were doing. Are Sven and Olaf enough to keep you company?"
"What?" Kristoff blurted out. "Why are you asking? Are you going somewhere?"
Arendelle's princess bit her lip. "I'm off to find the guy who did this to our kingdom. And the one who hurt you. I'll smack his face with a lute for you."
Upon Olaf's return to the medical bay, he quickly gave Kristoff the rundown of the situation of what happened with Jack, how Pitch had possessed Anna and the Defenders, and how Elsa and Hiccup are out searching for him. Of course, Kristoff had stopped paying serious attention after finding out that some lord of shadows had been in the body of the love of his life. That was enough to get his blood boiling. In spite of himself, Kristoff gave Anna a smile.
Anna however, seemed slightly suspicious. "You're not going to say anything?"
"No," Kristoff hurriedly answered. "You've been known to do crazy and reckless things. Nearly set me on fire with a flaming sleeping bag, for one. Just... be careful."
"I will." Anna gave Kristoff a quick kiss before turning to leave with Merida and Rapunzel. The three had already begun discussing how on earth were they going to even find Pitch.
"Maybe we should look for some trails of Nightmare sand in the village," Rapunzel suggested, remembering the wrecked market place. "Maybe one accidentally left a trail there. We could follow it, and it might just lead us to Pitch's lair."
"It's better than no lead," said Merida. "Let's go."
As the girls took their leave from the infirmary, the villagers began chatting, though Kristoff was unsure was it due to anxiety or that they were gossiping about his relationship with the princess.
Olaf poked his head up onto the bed. "Are you really not going to do anything about this?"
Kristoff grinned. "Remember when Anna told us to give her a minute when she went to see her sister?"
The snowman returned the smirk. "One, two, three..."
"Four," Kristoff added in, already beckoning Sven closer. The reindeer turned around, giving Kristoff access to his luggage as the man pulled out his mountain climbing vest. Like he was going to lie there in bed while Anna was out there, doing something potentially dangerous. Fat chance.
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The shadow avoided the trees like a charm. It zipped left and right, never running straight into anything. Hiccup had to clear his mind, keep himself incredibly focused as he followed the flurry of blackness zig zagging through the forest. The wind pushed against him as he and his dragon curved around branches and trunks. Toothless' body felt heavy below him, and Hiccup refused to open the dragon's tail fin all the way, fearing that Toothless wasn't in the best of shape. There were times when the shadow seemed to have disappeared, and Toothless whacked Hiccup's arms with his ears, as if telling him to speed up.
"I'm not taking any chances, bud," Hiccup said in return, rather vexed. "You shouldn't be pushing yourself in this state." Luckily, Hiccup still felt warmth from Toothless' skin. Being a dragon has it's perks, especially when you can willingly keep yourself warm.
Whenever Hiccup thought that he was losing track of the shadow, it quickly came back into his sights. Was it that he was catching up or was the shadow acting as if it wanted Hiccup to follow. For a moment, Hiccup turned to the direction in which he came from. Not that he was completely sure what that direction was, knowing that they had changed course countless times.
Hiccup's mind suddenly drifted to the words of Dagur the Deranged when he was hunting down his Night Fury. "Oh, Hiccup. Didn't you know a trapper's trap can trap the trapper?" Back then, Hiccup was confused as to what the Berserker Chief had meant. Now, the words gnawed at him. Was he the trapped? Or was he the trapper?
The shadow disappeared, completely gone from the forest. Surprised, Hiccup quickly pulled Toothless to a stop. The dragon popped onto the floor, shaking it's head. Hiccup's eyes darted around the landscape, eagerly searching for his target.
"Do you see it, bud?"
Before Toothless had a chance to answer, Hiccup felt a presence behind him. It was unnerving, knowing he had his back to a potential attacker. His hands grabbed his silver shield, swung the quiver of arrows over his back, and Hiccup spun around. There was a man draped in a cloak not far behind him. He had his cowl up, and Hiccup couldn't see the man's face. These was a sense of ominousness and ambiguity to him. It made Hiccup's muscles tense with fear. He had to take deep breaths just to keep his heart rate under control.
There was a small glint of a twisted grin from beneath the cloak. "Hello, Hiccup."
The greeting sent chills down Hiccup's spine. Toothless felt his rider's unease, coiling his tail in front of Hiccup's feet as his rider whispered, "Who are you?"
"That's a fine dragon you have there," the figure replied. "What was it that you vikings called it? A Night Fury? The unholy offspring of Lightning and Death itself? Wouldn't such a fine beast be perfect for the Lord of Nightmares?" There was movement beneath the cloak, and the man held out his hands, fingers gripping around a familiar broken wooden staff.
Hiccup's eyes widened. "You're Hans."
The young prince pulled the cowl back from his face, revealing his features. Hiccup was surprised to find that Hans' green eyes reflected his own. Except that Hans' pupils seemed more corrupted, filled with hate. Hans shook the item in his hand merrily. "Looking for this?"
The young viking narrowed his brows. "Hand over that staff." His voice was strained. It wasn't a simple statement. It was an order.
"Only in exchange for the dragon," Hans answered, his tone just as serious as Hiccup's. Berk's young heir refused to answer. When Hans was sure that the boy wasn't going to say anything, he tucked the staff back into his cloak, before shooting his hans forward, a pair of black arrows exploding from his palms. They traveled through the wind at breakneck speeds, crashing into a silver circular barrier, spraying the floor with dark gray dust.
Hiccup's arms strained at the force of the impact as he held up his shield, successfully blocking Hans' attack. His thoughts moved quickly. This guy seems to have control over Pitch's Nightmare sand. With only the shield for defense and Toothless not in top condition, I've got to take him out before he gets serious.
Something smashed into his shield, hard. Hiccup was caught off guard, and was pushed off his feet, feeling them surrounded by air. As he slid to a stop, Toothless had turned to Hans, snarling. A blast of fire escaped from his mouth. But as the heat left his body, Toothless shivered. He quickly pulled warmth back towards himself, slowly building for another release, but kept it inside.
Hans pulled up his sands, diminishing the fire blast. Black roots shot up from the ground, twisting around the Night Fury. Toothless tried to pounce on ahead, but one root at his legs pulled him back, and the dragon crashed back down, sending the soil below him flying. The young prince stepped up to the dragon. He drew his sword, resulting in a gleam of light. He swung the blade, cutting the straps of Toothless' saddle before picking it up with the weapon, almost disgusted by it.
"You won't be needing this anymore."
A force rammed into Han's sword, flinging it right out of his hands. A silvery shield arced in the air, returning to Hiccup's hands as he stood from across the clearing. "Hands off my dragon."
Hiccup held the shield in front of him. The sides clicked and turned, morphing the device into a crossbow. Hiccup whipped an arrow from his quiver and nocked his shot. It only took him a split second to aim before he fired at Hans.
A flurry of black rose up to cover Hans from the arrow and he laughed. "Is that really the best you can do?"
What Hans failed to notice was that Hiccup pulled out a canister hidden within the borders of his shield. Hiccup's arm launched it forward, and an explosion of green gas erupted in front of Hans' feet.
Inside, Hiccup smirked. I knew the twins and their explosions would come in handy some day. He rushed over to Toothless, feeling the tight roots around his dragon. The Night Fury whimpered, staring at Hiccup with glassy eyes. The gas was already subsiding as Hiccup set his shield down beside them, and Hans would have a clear shot of them in a matter of seconds. The boy placed a hand on the dragon's snout. "Don't worry, bud. I'm getting you out of this."
His wrist was caught by a dark rope. It pulled hard, lurching Hiccup backwards. He gasped. Since when did Hans get back there?
Hiccup attempted to reach for his shield, but he had already been pulled too far. With his free hand, Hiccup reached into his belt and brought out his small hunting knife. The viking stretched out and sliced the coil, dropping him into a stop. Hiccup took the chance to take a deep breath in, but it was a vain attempt to calm himself.
Hans' voice cut through the forest like daggers. "Enough of these games!"
A cord of black wrapped escaped Hans' hands, wrapping itself around Hiccup's neck. It pulled him up, and the ground left Hiccup's feet. The coil tightened themselves around his throat, voiding him of air. Hiccup felt his lungs start to burn, and the hilt of his knife slipping through his fingers. His hands instinctively shot up to the bind, desperately trying to rip free of the prince's hold. But Hiccup knew that with his physical strength, he had absolutely no chance. Fear filled him.
Hans chuckled sinisterly, almost finding the boy's struggle amusing. "Take a good look at your dragon, Hiccup. The next time you see him, he's going to be the new body of Pitch Black, the Lord of Nightmares."
Toothless growled, the Night Fury's jagged teeth appearing through his furious lips. Hans pushed a foot against the creature's face. "Know your place, dragon," he spat.
The coil flung Hiccup backwards, as if the boy was weightless. Pain flared at his sides as Hiccup crashed onto the dirt. He skidded against the rough forest ground, feeling small rocks pierce his skin. His back slammed into the base of a tree. Agony ripped at his lower spine. As cry escaped his lips as his head fell, numb, and Hiccup found himself falling into his own realm of pitch black nightmares.
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Anyone who has read the Defenders of Realms series would know that I don't really like writing Hiccup as the "weak" character, as I definitely a prefer badass sword-fighting Hiccup. But, well, the sword-fighting's not canon, but the shield is, so... Well I couldn't just have Hans beat up Hiccup right away, that would be just mean. Speaking of mean...
Should I stop with the cliffhangers? I seem to enjoy separating Hiccup and Toothless as much as Dreamworks! Thoughts? Questions? I'll try to reply to everyone~