Chapter 19

                                    

                                          
Hey, guys! Hope you enjoy reading this and happy reading!
                          
 
                          
The next three weeks went smoothly, with no giant monsters trying to attack them or attempting to tear them to shreds. To the average person, it was a huge relief, but to Jack and the others, it wasn't.
                          
"Can't we just knock down a few trees and pray that the trolls will come?" Anna asked, looking up and down a tree, tapping her chin.
                          
"Anna!" Elsa said. "Why would you want to do that?"
                          
"Because I'm bored," Anna shrugged. "I need a little action, a little adventure. I need to fight something."
                          
Elsa sighed. "You should be glad that we haven't run into any monsters these past few weeks."
                          
"Well, I was at first, but then it seemed like later on that we were just doing the same thing every day," Anna crossed her arms.
                          
"We are doing the same thing everyday," Jack rolled his eyes. "And besides, we can't just call something to attack us."
                          
"Yeah we can," Anna countered. "We can cut some trees and hopefully the trolls will come before I die of boredom here.
                          
"Ooh! Hiccup can I see the map?" Anna asked.
                          
"Uh, sure," Hiccup said, handing Anna the map.
                          
Anna looked at it eagerly, tracing her pointer finger over it. She turned to Galaxy. "Hey, Galaxy. Do you know if any real dangerous monsters are here?"
                          
"Anna!" Elsa gasped in horror.
                          
Galaxy looked at Anna with uncertainty and amusement. "If I did know, I wouldn't tell you," she smiled sympathetically.
                          
"Aww," Anna said, pouting a little bit.
                          
"Well this is new," Hiccup said. "A knight who actually wants a bit of trouble along the way."
                          
"Be quiet, Hiccup," Anna rolled her eyes and handed him back the map.
                          
"Can someone please keep her entertained?" Jack said sarcastically to the group. "I don't want any disasters happening because Ms. Bored here wanted a little fun."
                          
"Hey!" Anna huffed.
                          
"Cheer up, Anna, we're almost to the Black Dragon," Rapunzel said. "Before you know it, you can go back home and do whatever you want."
                          
"But what if we don't make it after the Black Dragon?" Anna said.
                          
"Anna," Jack said warningly.
                          
"I mean, the thing's really big and strong and-"
                          
"Anna."
                          
"It would be a miracle if we even made it out alive-"
                          
"Anna!" Jack shouted.
                          
The group stopped walking, all looking at him. He was shaking with anger and his eyes had something in them they had never seen before.
                          
"Don't you dare talk like that. You hear me?" Jack said angrily. "We are going to defeat that dragon and we are going to make it out. Alive. So I don't want any kind of that talk ever again. Is that understood?"
                          
Anna stared at him, dumbfounded, and simply nodded.
                          
"Good," Jack said, his voice a little quieter. "Now, let's keep moving. We don't have all day." He started walking ahead of them, with the group gradually following behind him.
                          
"I've never seen Jack like that," Hiccup whispered.
                          
"He's usually so easygoing and always cracking jokes," Merida said. She turned to Elsa. "Did we set him off?"
                          
Elsa sighed, patting a comforting hand on Anna's shoulder, who was still quite shocked of what happened earlier. "No, you didn't. Those kinds of outbursts from him are very rare, and I guess this was one of those rare moments.
                          
"Jack has been through a lot," Elsa said. "He lost his family at a young age. He had nowhere to go after that. Taking up knight academy was really his only option for him as a boy at the time.
                          
"I think that's why he seems so fun, easygoing, and carefree most of the time," Elsa said, looking ahead at Jack. "He doesn't want anyone to have experienced what he did. He wants everyone he meets to smile, to be happy.
                          
"But I guess when Anna mentioned about the possibility of us not making it out alive, it really set him off," Elsa said, smiling gently at Anna. "Everyone he gets close to, he develops a deep emotional bond to them." she smiled at every one of them. "He doesn't want the past to catch up with him again. He doesn't want to lose anyone he's close to if he could prevent it.
                          
"He was even reluctant to bring me and Anna along," Elsa chuckled quietly. "If it weren't for our nagging and our persistence to come along with him, I don't think he would have let us go in the first place.
                          
"That's why you have to promise me that you'll do everything you can to not make him succumb to his dark side," Elsa said, looking solemnly at them all. "Because when he feels like he's reliving the past, it's like his whole being is shattered, and it takes a very long time for him to pick up the pieces again."
                          
They walked in silence, all taking in what Elsa had said to them.
                          
"I'll do my very best to keep your promise, Elsa," Galaxy said.  
                          
"Me too," Hiccup nodded. "I- I know how it feels to lose a loved one."
                          
"You can count me in too," Merida grinned.
                          
"I'll do it, Elsa," Rapunzel smiled.
                          
"You can bet on it," Hannah smiled, a look of fiery determination in her eyes.
                          
Elsa smiled. "Thank you. You don't know how much it means to me, to Jack."
                          
"I just hope he won't stay like that for long," Merida said, nodding to Jack. "It's kind of a downer, you know?"
                          
Elsa chuckled. "Don't worry. I'm glad it was just Anna who did that to him."
                          
Anna smiled sheepishly.
                          
"He'll be back to his usual self in less than an hour," Elsa smiled to the group.  
                          
"Well, let's see if we can make that number go down, hm?" Merida said, a mischievous grin on her face. She dove into some bushes near Jack and peeked her head out. She signalled to the others to keep quiet, which was really difficult for them to do, what with them all giggling and laughing.
                          
"Oh I'm sure he'll cheer up after that," Elsa laughed.
                          

                          
AN: A bit more of a serious chapter here. We now know a little bit more of Jack's past. And don't worry, he isn't mad at Anna, and Anna isn't mad at him. They're just both shocked at what the other did or said. Anyways, thanks for reading and see you in the next chapter!