History Repeats Itself: Part 1 (a hijack shortfic)
It sounds like lightening crackling across the sky. It feels like it under Jack's skin. He can feel it webbing out along his nerves just as it blooms undertow. For one gruesome moment, Jack is only 17 years old. He saw his mother only an hour ago. There's soft leather bound shoes wrapped around his feet he watched her stitch together just the day before. His sister is with him. Their cheeks hurt with laughter. It's just before supper.
"Well... this isn't ideal," Hiccup chuckles nervously.
Jack feels vertigo. He's brought back from his memories to reality and panic rises in his chest.
Hiccup frowns down at his feet. Every now and then he'll shoot Jack a wobbly smile and mutter something as he looks around for a solution to his impending doom. His words are barely louder than a whisper. Pretending the quiet of their words will somehow lull the ice back into slumber. Stop it from cracking further. Jack knows better. He can see where Hiccup's makeshift ice skate is caught between the folds. Knows in his soul Hiccup will only anger it further if he turns just one degree too far.
Jack's fingers flex, reaching for the cold trapped beneath his skin. Begging beyond the moon, to any entity out there within range of his thoughts for a fraction of a blessing. A breath of his former self. An inkling of frozen mercy so he may walk over and calmy pull Hiccup from the lake. Apologize for not checking the ice before dragging a beginner out to the middle of nowhere. If he could just be who he's supposed to be-
Another heavy groan sounds around them.
Hiccup stills in his half crouch, hands extended down as if to remove his shoes. He seems to think better of it, slowly unfurling himself back into a standing position. "Ohhhh that's not good. Damn. I really like this coat."
Jack wishes he could laugh. Only a strangled hum passes through his lips. He's already halfway through taking his own skates off. Twinetender lays to his right and the scenery flickers between the modest frozen pond and the vast lake. Wide eyes tremble between green and brown. Jack can't grasp where his toes begin and his hand ends.
"Great idea. Why didn't I think of that."
Jack smiles for Hiccup's sake, but it doesn't reach his eyes. He's too focused on testing the ice around himself. He shifts left and right. The only thing that gurgles is the acid in his stomach. Gently, he toes his way to Twinetender, swiping it up with his barefoot with practiced grace. It lands in his hands smoothly, easing Jack's tension and solidifying his resolve. He's done this dance before. If memory serves right, he's quite good at it. Excluding the whole dying bit. Sure, he's mortal now, supposedly, but Manny can't exactly find another fun winter spirit on short notice. At least, Jack hopes he can't. If Manny liked him enough to raise his spirit, maybe he'll do it again. Jack already got the whole guardian thing down. It'd be a waste to start all over with someone new. He'll die again, which will suck, but maybe this will get him back to his former himself. Rebirth and all that good stuff. Yay.
"So... any ideas, Frost?" Hiccup calls. He hasn't moved a centimeter since nature's second warning. Any normal person would be shaking by now. Being a Viking that rides dragons really has its muscular perks. Jack wishes they'd brought Toothless with them for the hundredth time.
"Only one. But it worked last time."
Hiccup shoots him a look, expecting an explanation. Jack makes the slow arduous trek to Hiccup, stopping when he's no longer confident in the ice's density. He holds Twinetender with both hands, getting into a low, sturdy stance.
Clearly, this is not the explanation Hiccup was looking for. "Is that... a drink?"
Jack huffs a laugh. A real, affectionate laugh. "Funny, Haddock. No. Just... When I say go, step forward with one foot and balance on it. Try to disperse your weight. Then do it again."
Hiccup considers this. Then, "I'm on blades."
"I just learned how to slide on them."
"You want me to now walk and balance on them?"
"Wow, Haddock, great deduction skills. Can we continue with saving your life now?"
"Saving my-" Hiccup shakes his head. "I'm not going to die, Jack."
"I know." Jack tightens his hold. "Now move. Please," he adds and for once drops all the joking facade. He stops being brave. Fighting him on this is only making the inevitable hurt more. Jack lets the emotion bleed into his words. Begs in one syllable because he can't explain what will happen. He can't bear to hear Hiccup say no.
It must work. Hiccup's face settles into stony determination. Jack admires him for it, doesn't have the time to appreciate how strong Hiccup is. He can only nod encouragingly. Hiccup heaves a deep sigh, mutters something else under his breath, then clenches his fist. He takes the first step forward.
The ice gives under his other foot instantly.
Hiccup gasps. He throws his arms back and out using whatever momentum he has left to swing himself forward one more step. It's barely enough for Jack to hook Twinetender around his waist, but it works. Jack bears down on the ice as much as he's able to and pulls. A rough cry tumbles from his lips. Weak arms tug with the strength of a desperate man. Hiccup yelps as he's flung forward, ducking down under Jack's arm to slam chest first into the ice. He slides a good distance, the cold biting through his cloak and burning his cheek.
Jack watches him careen away from danger. Feels the laws of physics at work as he's forced in the opposite direction. The lake groans loudly, thundering, giving way beneath Jack's now blue toes. It breaks, dropping Jack back into his sub-zero coffin. Limbs flail helplessly. The moon doesn't hang above him like a mythical eye. The sky is blue. Empty.
The cold hurts, he thinks as water fills his lungs.
Everything fades to freezing, suffocating, aching black.
