Chapter Text
It has been two years since Jack had joined the Guardians of Childhood and ever since they've definitely become more of a family everyday. Although Jack learned quickly that they apparently weren't that close before, at least not for a long time.
Throughout his time with them, whenever someone revealed a little something about themselves, the others would always seem more surprised than Jack would've expected. As if they didn't know something as simple as that Tooth having a coin collection. Not the ones she paid the kids with, but actual, super rare coins from across the world. Even some coins that people didn't know existed anymore.
They never even knew how Bunny's warren worked. They knew he was the last of the Pooka race of course but they had no idea just how separated he was from it all. His warren was actually the ship his species had used to flee their planet when the Knightmare King attacked and it had just kinda sunk further underground over the centuries since it crash landed on Earth. All the alien materials it was made from had melted, morphed and altered into the very vegetation that had grown into it; creating the different florals that makes and paints the eggs. Even the purple river itself was just a stream of the ships excess fuel that had since spilt over in the crash. All while the stone warriors were actually robots that worked as guards for the Pooka, which have sense taken that job to take care of Bunny as it's last survivor.
Bunny had only been a child when it had all went down and their technologies had been what ultimately led Pitch to their planet and ship in the first place, so no one could really blame him when he explained that THAT was why he didn't exactly want to tap too much back into that stuff. A lot of the Pooka's history, luckily, had been saved and stored into servers that survived the crash, so Bunny was able to retain his heritage in a way. But he was raised by robots with no arms or voice boxes, thus they hadn't been able to show any genuine care for him. Barely even be able to communicate. So naturally Bunny became more in tune with the nature around him in order to learn and develop, as he let all said vegetation grow out into the spacecraft he now called home.
But back on topic, none of the other Guardians ever knew these things about each other before and it did make Jack wonder but he never questioned them on it. It was pretty apparent that they had disconnected over the years of peace and in trying to keep kids belief that they forgot about their relationship with each other.
Now they've decided to have weekly meetings to make sure they keep in touch, not for themselves but for Jack. After realizing just how isolated he had been for too long, they knew they had to stick together for each other. Not much has really changed outside of the Guardians new found family so the meetings they had would only last about a half an hour before they would just hang out and (as of recently) play family games.
They were just finishing up a meeting when a rainbow flash-banged them and everything went black.
˖ ࣪⊹ °˖❄⸜(˶^ v ^˶)⸝❄˖°⊹ ࣪˖
It had been about a month since the bear incident.
Because all of the clans leaders had been present, the story of what happened during their visit was already spreading across all the lands and Merida still didn't yet know how to feel about the idea of she and her mother's misunderstanding going down into legend. But she guessed there wasn't much she could do about that now. At least, hopefully, their story will prevent anything such as that from happening again to anyone else in the near future.
So, she guessed she was proud of it in a weird way. Despite the fact that she nearly lost her mother due to her semi-selfish want. Elinor blamed herself as well; she was the one who ignored her daughter's skills and wishes just to follow traditions, after all. They've both long since come to the understanding that they were both to blame for the whole ordeal.
Obviously leading to them both to make a further effort to keep and strengthen their relationship. Like riding horses together, finally getting the chance to show her mum her archery.
Despite her anger during the games, Elinor was rather impressed with her skill with the bow. So yesterday, she suggested that they go out in the morning to finally see Merida's extent with the weapon. Along with her method of training; riding the same path every morning, targets set up for a long enough time that they're now utterly littered with old arrows. Then spending the next hour in the forest. For fun. Something Elinor still didn't quite comprehend but an aspect of their little walks in the woods that she has learned she liked to do sometimes was investigating the many florals and evaluating which ones were safe to touch/eat and which ones weren't. Sure there may have been a few times where Elinor spent the rest of the day feeling ill — Merida had long sense built up a better tolerance to the pain, the Queen could commend as much — but if there was one thing Elinor liked to do, it was learn.
Especially after her mishap with the berries and worm water during her time as a bear. She really didn't realize she should probably utilize knowledge of the wild just as much as the politics of the people.
And in taking the time to understand Merida's interests, she has died down the strict time schedule for Merida's royal-princess classes. In turn, of course, Merida has managed to actually pay better attention and engagement during the lessons. Not to say she really didn't before but even when she got things right, there was always an air of defiance. Now, after Merida's first stand in politics – I.e. de-escalating the clans to when they were about to start war in the throne room – the curly haired princess now understood the unique strength her mother held in those situations.
Cut to present day, Merida and Elinor were just about to ride down Merida's morning archery routine when a rainbow light engulfed the castle before everything went black.
❖⬷ฅ.ʕ˶• ﻌ •˶ʔ.ฅ⤖❖
You know, Moana has always dreamed about being on the ocean. She just couldn't understand why. The only good stories she's heard of the water was from her grandma. Anything else she's ever heard was either very vague or that it was completely uncontrollable, making it monstrous. At least, that second description was how her dad liked to portray it.
She hated how she couldn't truly turn away from the ocean for him, he was her father and of course she candidly loved her people and home. She knows this island from front to back, every nook and stone, she practically knew every strand of grass by now. She could even time every geyser to barely avoid the heat just for the trill of it. But... There has to be more out in the world than just fish and shallow reefs. So much she doesn't know, so much she wants to learn and see. Different people she could meet. The Motunui were more than aware of other islands existing from their legends and history of interactions with other tribes, but how they lost contact and separated may forever be a mystery long lost to time. So Moana knows there are other people out there... or.. at least there were.
No! Moana shakes her head. Get out of that dead funk. She was with a class of kids she was teaching a new dance to.
And she was about ready to show them the next step when a rainbow light flashed.
⋆𔓘❀⸜(˶⚈◡⚈˶)⸝❀𔓘⋆
Hiccup has always been the runt of the litter out of all the teens on this island. All of the other kids were strong and tough. Well except Fishlegs, kinda, but he was still strong to boot despite being a nerd. Unlike the others.
Hiccup on the other hand was scrawny and has never been viewed the same way. Though he knew he was stronger than everyone thought, it was never strong enough, and he's just never gotten the chance to prove it. With everyone pushing him to stay indoors during the raids and being in the back of the smith shop while Gobber took in orders.
Gobber was the one who had the most faith in Hiccup, even though he was still over protective and tried to keep him out of trouble by trying to tell him the opposite of what he wanted to hear. That was Gobber's method and Hiccup knew it. He knew Gobber never really means anything he says. He's just trying to protect him.
As much as Hiccup appreciates the thought, he was still going to make inventions to try and win the approval of his village. Even if they would usually backfired or just didn't impress them.
If only he had another pair of hands to help. Gobber wouldn't because he would never encourage to stay as different as he was. Gobber loved him for who he was but he truly believed that Hiccup would never feel like he belonged until he changed.
And Hiccup knew this as well, that's why he was so determined to prove his worth as himself to the Hairy Hooligan tribe. He knows that being an inventor and being different will help his village. That's why he'll always strive to stay himself.
Hiccup was working on his latest contraption; the bola launcher, when a flash of rainbow light filled his eyesight.
꧁𓊈⸜(˶´ ˘ `˶)⸝𓊉꧂
Emma missed Jack.
It's been a grieving year since Jack died in the ice. Leaving their unique little family without their oldest child.
It was a wonder where Jack got his strange tendencies from. Most boys his age would be engaged or at least looking for a bride by his age.
But Jack was just never into expectations; he'd always go running off, playing with the kids and even though plenty of girls clearly had eyes for him, they were never the ones to approach first and Jack seemed to almost never notice. Not unless a girl was being completely blatant. When he did take notice, Jack usually wasn't into them, as they were usually only interested in him for his looks. A lot of the girls who showed interest would usually also gossip to each other about who could "fix" him; change him to be more mature — to stop being so "childish."
Emma could never help but roll her eyes at it. They'd never understand how responsible he truly was, she couldn't help but think in spite. How emotionally charged and reliable he was. Because he wasn't just goofing off with the kids of their settlement everyday, he was looking after them while their parents were busy throughout the day. Parents who would sometimes give him tips for it but for the most part Jack did it completely free. Because Jack understood the importance of making sure kids were safe. But because he wasn't supposedly being paid for it, he was just 'goofing off.'
Everyone in this forsaken colony was way too stiff. They'd straight up refuse to have fun because enjoying life was considered wrong by God or something. Emma just couldn't understand their thought process on that. Just because she or her family weren't working themselves to death, doesn't mean they were lazy and thus, sinning.
It was exactly that reason that her family lived by the pond outside of the colony about a mile out. Because the rest of the Overland's weren't much different from Jack. They all basically said "screw the norm." Their dad was the one that usually cooked while their mother tended to their garden for food. It was also considered atrocious for women to have short hair — it was especially considered unattractive, if the lady ever wanted to find a husband. Maryam Overland, however, has always preferred to sport the pixie cut. Only ever growing it out so they can cut it to sell for wig making. It was practically like a relief whenever the scissors came out for her, like she could actually breath again, in spite of the disgusted glances she'd get from people whenever they went to the settlement to trade goods.
People always considered Maryam lucky to find a man who tolerated her antics and hair preference but Jacklovich Overland always loved her spirit and when he was younger, was always considered less of a man for liking to cook while not liking to hunt. Maryam couldn't help but love his big heart and they both fell for each other quick. Understanding that they were stuck in these societal expectations together.
They were considered outcasts for a long time, however over the years, most of the people around them got used to it. They weren't any more accepting, but they learned to tolerate it, as they knew the Overland's were too stubborn to change.
Though Emma and her parents weren't the only ones who grieved over the playful Jackson Overland.
Three of the American Indians that lived in the nearby Lunmas tribe also mourned.
The natives were still considered practically demon spawn to most of the older villagers who have been living in the "saints age (puritan era)," but the Overland's didn't care for that at all and even befriended some. A pair of siblings like Jack and Emma: nineteen year old boy, Ahanu, and fourteen year old girl, Citali.
Jack and his family were the only ones to accept the Lunmas and liked to learn about their culture. After all it wasn't unheard of for individual settlers from other colonies to run off and join a nearby tribe instead. The Overland family were pretty in between on that, again, living a mile outside of the settlement, in the woods, but still very much interacting with the colony. Only because by the time Jacklovich and Maryam realized leaving could've been an option, they had already had their kids and they didn't want to risk uprooting the life they had. After all the other settlers are always very skeptical, so them being as lenient with the Overland's as they are meant they were already on an edge that they didn't want to risk tilting. Besides, Jacklovich and Maryam were still Christian, very much believed in their God. So they were more than willing to keep to themselves while being nice to the Lunmas people on the side. Living a mile into the forest made it easier to do so anyway.
Ahanu and Citali always told the others back home about the white people they were friends with but were never taken that seriously for it. Aside from their Father, Katok, of course and obviously there was hesitance in meeting the Overland family given the tensions, but Katok had come to understand and even befriend the Overland's himself. Often helping them hunt and fish to trade for goods between territories when their children went out playing.
They all grew to be close friends.
So when the Lunmas siblings heard the news of Jack's death? Of course they were distraught. Ever since that day it felt like the atmosphere itself had become darker — like the brightest star in the sky had disappeared. Even their entire clan could feel the weight of their loss, despite having never gotten to meet the boy who saved his sister. Katok also taking the time to console Maryam and Jacklovich, having experienced his own loss when his love, Ishta, died giving birth to Citali, and knowing the Overland's statis with their own colony, he knew he was the only one who could give them the emotional support they needed.
Emma had also taken her time mourning to write all of Jack's wacky and fantastical stories he told by the campfires. Wanting to immortalize him in some way and in the hopes of never forgetting them, as she so often felt like she wanted to shut out and forget everything now. Her friends always reminded her that it wasn't true; she would always regret if she did, especially when it came to the tales Jack told.
So Emma was spending her spring in her room, joined by Ahanu and Citali today, when a burst of rainbow light flooded the room.
.°･:*ꕤ⸜( ᴗ͈ ˬ ᴗ͈ )⸝ꕤ*:･°.
Rapunzel has been in this tower her whole life. She's spent her time painting the walls, reading, charting the stars and hanging with her only friend Pascal. And to be frank, some days it was kinda brain numbing.
Charting the stars was one of her most favorite things to do, aside from painting of course. But when it got so dark she couldn't see the walls well, reading the night sky was just as fun a pass time as her wall illustrations. She didn't know why she was so drawn to the stars — the stars that would glow brighter on her birthday.
Even if they were stars like her mother kept insisting, she always loved the normal stars too. How they sparkled and shimmered, giving light to the animals that were awake in the dark world.
The stars were hypnotic to watch.
She was doing so, early one morning before the sun was out when she saw one star glow brighter than the rest. She squinted in confusion before said star flashed rainbow and everything went black.
･˚.✶𖤓⸜(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)⸝𖤓✶.˚･
Everyone was slowly waking up. Their sight blurred before processing that they were in a completely different area – unfamiliar to them – then they were before. Many standing up and searching for those they could possibly recognize, others jumping up and demanding to know where they are.
Moana, Ahanu and Citali had never seen so many white people at once. It was almost scary. But when Ahanu and Citali saw that almost none of them were focusing on them and how wildly different they were dressed, they realized these aren't the same kind of people that inhabited their land. Moana just straight up has never seen a white person before.
Many voices of confusion, fear, and even some levels of anger ran back and forth between each other before one voice rang over them all.
"HELLOOOO~!" A cheery voice silenced the room of red velvet seats with matching curtains and a white screen on the wall that all the seats faced.
"I'm sooooo happy to finally have you all here!" A girl stood on the balcony to the right of the screen. She had brown, curly hair, in a puffy ponytail, fairly pale skin with a rosy upturned pixie nose that rested a pair of glasses with green-blue eyes. She wore black leather crop-jacket over a deep honey yellow shirt and red jeans paired with a black leather belt that had a silver chain hanging off her hip. Her head also sported a pair of black headphones with red accents, plus a mini microphone and had an orange unicorn horn at the top.
Stoick the Vast spoke out first, "who are you? Dich'u bring us here, witch?!"
"First of all I'm not a witch," she corrected. "Second; yes I did. I brought you all here to show you all da fut-cha!" Her excited voice echoed as she did a funky little bounce on one foot with her other limbs spread out in a boisterous bout.
She answered but no one really believed.
"Och! How are you s'pose to shoo us the future?" King Fergus accused.
"Fergus, I know you don't really believe in magic... but magic," the charred unicorn looking girl leaned on the railing of her balcony, arms spread wide in nonchalance and rolled her head to one side as she spoke before asking sarcastically, "I mean, how else did I teleport everyone here?"
"And before we continue, just so you know, my name is Li'l Miss Bacon. Missy for short. And I will be showing you your future in the form of a movie. For those of you who don't know what a movie is, it's like a moving picture with sound or a stage play but on a wall instead of on stage."
Half the room nodded, not knowing what else to do.
"A'ight," Missy looked at a clipboard, "to make sure everyone's here! I got Stoick, Gobber, the teens along with Hiccup from Berk. Merida and her family from DunBroch. Moana, her parents plus grandma Tala and Maui from the Polynesian islands." Moana and her parents shocked at the sudden news of the selfish demigod from their legends. "Rapunzel from the tower. The Guardians from the North Pole and Emma plus natives from Burgess. And yes, Jack, that's exactly who I'm talking about and yes Burgeese-ians, Jack's here and well," Missy specified before checking over the list again.
Jack short-circuited the moment Missy said 'Emma plus natives.' There were only three people he knew she could be referring to. The Guardians turned to Jack as well, him having had told them about his friends and little sister a good while ago.
Jack stood in shock for a few seconds before practically running out into the crowd to find them.
Emma looked at Ahanu and Citali to make sure they heard what she just did. Jack was... alive? That... That's not possible. If this was some sort of sick joke, it wasn't funny! The three of them stood frozen at the emotional whiplash they were just given and Ahanu was even about to yell something in retort to such a cruel sense of hope when a thin boy in a blue top and brown pants squeezed through the people before them. What they saw made them all freeze further.
This wasn't the same Jack they knew. He had snow white hair and was too pale to be alive. He wore a very unusual blue top they'd never seen before, that was covered in a silver frost. He also had a staff in hand that Emma could still recognize as the stick Jack had used to save her.
But what really made him stand out was his eyes. They were now a striking blue, but that's not all there was to it. Not only were his sockets darker due to him being paler but being older, it was easier for the raven haired siblings to see it. Looking into Jack's eyes, you could sense a lingering sadness that had formed in them over years.
That wasn't there before. This Jack was older... aching. Like he's been hurt for a long time and only recently has his wound finally scabbed over to start healing. Their Jack didn't have this. He had impossibly bright eyes, filled with warmth, love and a strong protectiveness, even some sense of naivete to life. Not... this profound pain and longing.
Minds running a mile a minute, the three Americans soon see those eyes tear up as he mutters.
"...Emma?"
The sound of his voice. Emma never thought she'd here it again. Let alone see his face again. The moment the resonance of his voice broke the silence, Emma took off in a run towards her older brother. Jack sucked in a breath when Emma moved. She's real, Jack couldn't help but to have doubted before he ran as well.
Once they reached, Jack slid on his knees as his little sister jumped into his arms. Tears going down both their faces. They full on stayed that way for a few minutes while everyone around them disappeared from their perception. Taking in the feeling of each other in their arms, despite Jack being kinda cold. They eventually release and looked at each other.
Jack exhaled, lightly choking on his own breath as he whispers to himself, "if only I'd remembered."
"I thought you were dead!" Emma cried. Ahanu and Citali were now standing behind Emma with tears of joy in their own eyes as well.
"I did die," Jack clarified. Better to explain now to avoid confusion later. "But I came back with no memories. I could've been there for you," Jack couldn't keep talking as he released more tears and stroked his sister's cheek and placed their foreheads together.
Emma processed what Jack just said. He came back to life with no memories? The pain in his face as he said it too, oh he so clearly blamed himself. Emma processed for a moment, settling her thoughts on, we'll talk about details later, I will never stand to watch him self-deprecate like this. So she places her hand on top of Jack's own, on her cheek and softly rubs her thumb to grab his attention.
"I'm not the only one here," Emma chuckled. She knew Ahanu and Citali wanted in on this. Jack looked at her but then at the siblings next to them and smiled again. He stood, chuckled, and finally let go of Emma to hug the two. They hugged him back so tightly they nearly cracked his back.
Jack lightly chuckled again as he exhaled and they released. "I'm so happy to see you again," Jack wiped a tear away.
"You're so happy? We're so happy," Citali responded.
"You've been dead for over a year," Ahanu stated. Jack gave a solemn chortle at their responses.
"So it's only been a year for you?" Jack asked, wiping another tear on the other side of his face while finally holding the rest in.
"What do you-"
"Hey! I'm sorry Jack," Missy cut in Emma off, "I know ya ain't got the best control over it but could'u please lighten it up in here?"
That was when they all looked around the room and realized it had started snowing. Inside. Somehow? The presence of other people finally came back to their consciousness, everyone was looking around in curiosity and uncertainty, except for the Guardians.
Jack nodded, the snow slowly disappearing in mid air.
There were two other Americans in the room, from Ahanu and Citali's village: Chief Dasan and Medicine man Mahoniko. They saw this entire interaction and phenomenon having had been looking around to find the others when Missy mentioned 'natives from Burgess.' (The number of natives had been unspecified so they wanted to make sure, trying to look after their people and all.) However now they knew; mystical beings were in this room with them. But what did that have to do with the palest puritan they'd ever seen?
"Okay, now!" Missy started again before anyone could ask. "Everyone, take your seats, you get to choose. I'll be starting the movie as soon as you're ready."
Jack held hands with Emma as they, Ahanu and Citali went and sat near the middle of the seats. The Guardians sat behind them to keep a good eye, make sure Jack was okay. Stoick and Gobber taking seats to their left and Maui to their right. Merida, Eleanor and Fergus sat to the right of Jack and co. with the triplets in front of them. Hiccup sat to their left, Rapunzel sat on his left and end of the isle, fidgeting and shivering like a leaf since she got here but a lot less now that no one seemed to take notice of her. As long as she could stay inconspicuous for as long as possible, she would. Moana, her mom, dad and grandma sat in front of Jack and co., next to the triplets. And to their left were Fishlegs and Astrid. Snotlout and the twins sat in the back, behind their own Chief. Finally Dasan and Mahoniko sat in the back right, as far away from all as possible.
"Alright, let's get this started!" Missy went to press the button of an Xbox controller. "Oh yeah, by the way... We're watching the musical version of your future. Okay play!"
