The first thought that managed to meander through Jacks' mind when he woke up was something along the lines of 'remind me never to get into a fight with North's snow globes again.' He'd really just been having fun, as normal, flying through the halls leaving his usual icy decorations behind him to trip up the elves and yetis that had been hot on his tail (of which he'd been entirely too proud as it wasn't easy to get that many of them into a game of tag, although he really hadn't wanted to get caught by that mob) when he'd ducked into a room he'd originally thought had been another, much larger room, and straight into a veritable shelf of the little, magical baubles.

His second thought dealt with his staff and he had to force his eyes open (thankful for the dim lighting as it otherwise would have been all too painful) to find it. It had fallen into the snow only a foot or two away from him, and he located it rather quickly. Having the familiar wood in his hand calmed his mind enough for the third thought.

Where am I? If he'd run into and broken the snow globes (a high probability judging from the crashing of broken glass he remembered hearing before the swirl of colors had knocked him out), then he needed to know where he'd been teleported to, and really he had no idea.

Now he'd never admit it aloud, but the snow globes tended to make Jack about as uneasy as they did Bunny, only for very different reasons. Bunny didn't like heights or speed he had no control over. Jack just didn't care for the disorientation he felt after traveling through a portal. It wasn't anything he couldn't deal with, but for centuries he'd learned to be able to recognize his approximate position at any given point on the planet. A lot of that had to do with where he'd started and how long it had taken him to travel. He knew how fast he could move, and so he knew about where he could be whenever he felt he needed to know. Having that thrown off didn't ever make his day.

So, he realized as he stood in the snow bank he'd landed in, I could be anywhere. Well, not anywhere. He couldn't help but feel grateful towards fate or whatever reason had lead to him being dropped here in the snow and not in the Sahara Desert, or a tropical island…or the middle of the sea.

He shuddered, quickly brushing that thought aside and focused on his surroundings. He knew cold places, and he'd been given something to work with, so work with it he would. It shouldn't take him long to figure out where he was.

Judging from the actual temperature, he'd say arctic or sub-arctic region; so North Pole or South Pole area. Probably North, judging from the few trees he could see. He frowned at that. From the current temperature, it didn't seem like this land ever got warm enough for even a few trees to grow. Maybe Greenland? Upper Russia? After studying what little he could see, he shook the observation from his head. He could think on that later. Right now he had a priority to get to North and let him know that he was alright.

Then he'd lay low for the next two years so the yetis and elves had time to either forget and forgive or at least cool down. Hmm, he may have to bump that up to two decades, come to think of it. Yetis could hold grudges.

He glanced up at the cloudy sky with a slight frown. Well, no moon or stars to help him out there. It seemed like there was nothing for it. He'd just have to pick a direction and keep riding the wind until he figured something out.

Satisfied with his decision, he called the wind and went to leap into the air, only to pause mid-step. The wind felt…different; hesitant almost. As if it didn't know him at all.

"What's wrong with you?" Jack asked, half annoyed and half concerned.

The wind didn't answer, but brushed by him as if to ask 'so are you coming or not?' He frowned, but shrugged it off and leapt into the air, climbing higher and higher and losing himself in the sheer joy of flying.

After a few minutes, he leveled out and glanced around through the mild storm (that had nothing to do with anything he'd created, he noted). Off in the distance, he could see a little village. At first he almost thought he'd just ended up outside of the little village around North's Workshop and silently asked the wind to take him in that direction. His relief did not last long, though, as he soon realized that the village, while similar, was not the town he'd taken to visiting whenever he got bored lately.

Actually, he'd never seen this town before…and that rang warning bells in his head. He knew every village touched by snow.

More cautious now, he let the wind set him down just outside the village, studying it the whole time. Even after he'd landed, he couldn't help but just stand there and blink. It definitely looked like some place that could belong to North. Christmas seemed apart of everything, from the wreaths on the doors to the lights decorating every single house. He could see beautifully done-up trees inside the homes near him and smell cocoa and mint drifting through the crisp evening. Soft tones of trains and carols danced calmly through the air, creating a sense of peace and home that even Santoff Clausen didn't quite succeed in attaining. He found it strange because it hadn't been anywhere near Christmas when he'd gone to see North.

And then there were the children. They ran everywhere and looked about as busy as the yetis did on a regular basis. It surprised him that he couldn't see a single adult among them. He smiled a bit, liking the idea of no adult supervision; no parents to stem a child's belief. Perhaps they'd be able to see him here? Well, only one way to find out.

Swallowing, he steeled himself and walked forward, reaching out to stop one child.

"Excuse me," he said, ignoring how similar it felt to just about every time he'd tried to enter a town those first few years as Jack Frost.

He found himself pleasantly surprised when little boy actually stopped and glanced up at him warily. That's when Jack realized that this wasn't a little boy at all.

"Y-you're an elf?" he asked. He'd never seen one so large. All of the elves he knew had penchants for pointed hats, bells and cookies. They also rarely came up past his knee and tended to cause almost as much trouble as he did on a regular basis. This elf seemed far more serious and came at least to his waist with the little jester-like hat that sank down and fell over his shoulder. Otherwise, he looked to be dressed rather normally for someone running around such a cold town, with the exception that everything he wore consisted of green, red or white.

"Yeah," the elf said warily. "What of it?"

Jack recognized that look. It reminded him of the yetis before he'd become a Guardian. "N-nothing," he stuttered, holding up his hands in a calming gesture. "I was just wondering if you could tell me where I am?"

The elf raised an eyebrow and glanced around as if looking for help. "Uh, this is Christmas town," he said in his little, squeaky voice. "Just like the sign at the entrance says."

Jack blinked and turned to look back the way he'd come. There was indeed a sign, although he couldn't read it from back here. How had he missed it before?

"Oh, right," he said, then turned back to the fidgeting little creature. He could definitely see the resemblance to the elves he knew now. Maybe only the runts got sent to North's Workshop? Hmm. There was something particularly disturbing about that idea.

"Yeah, um, where are we? I'm a bit lost and need to find my way back to North's Workshop."

The elf frowned, confused. "North? Who's North? Santa Claus?" he asked cautiously.

Well, if that's what they call him around here, Jack thought to himself, happy to finally be getting somewhere. "Yes, yes," he said with a smile that seemed to put the elf a bit more at ease. "Santa Claus. Where is he?"

"Straight that way," the elf said, turning around and pointing towards a large house with what looked like a factory-type building exploding out of the back. "He should be in."

The winter spirit blinked. So North did come here, huh? Probably looking for Jack. He knew he'd get an ear-full if they'd been out searching for him long. He wondered if Sandy, Tooth or Bunny had shown up to help search.

"Right. Thanks," he said, swinging his staff onto his shoulders and hanging his hands over it on each side as he started off casually down the street. As glad as he was that someone would be happy to find him, he really didn't want the well-meaning lecture North would undoubtedly give him.

"Hey," he heard the elf behind him and turned to see the little thing studying him intently. "Aren't you cold? Would you like a coat…or shoes?"

Jack glanced down at himself for a moment before turning to look back at the elf with a mischievous grin. "Nah, I'm fine. Thanks."

The elf just shook his head in a manner that clearly said 'humor the crazy person'. "Right. Well, good luck."

"Thanks," Jack replied and turned around again. "I'm gonna need it."

The decorations on the buildings just seemed to get more and more elaborate as Jack strode sedately down the snow-covered road. By the time he got to the house at the end of the street, he couldn't help but stare at…well, everything. What hadn't been tacked with a Christmas light had some sort of decoration tied to it somehow (and some of those got extremely creative). Jack actually found it a little overbearing, but for the most part he couldn't keep from whispering 'wow' every few seconds. These guys really outdid themselves.

Maybe it was the whole Christmas Town thing. They wanted to up-play the holiday and so kept it all year round or something. Jack had to admit, it had a rather amazing effect. He could see North's influence easily, as 'wonder' seemed to only scratch the surface.

All too soon, he reached the door to the large mansion and stood warily on the porch for several seconds. He knew this confrontation was coming, but he hated seeing the others worried over him. It wasn't like he needed them or anything. He had been on his own for three centuries after all.

"Just do it, Jack," he muttered to himself and pushed the doorbell.

After a few moments, it clicked open and Jack found himself facing a short, stout man with a long, white beard. Jack blinked as his mind processed this and he finally realized that this must be a fan of North's. He found it entertaining that North had those kinds of obsessed people strutting after him, although now that he thought about it, it did make sense.

He was also surprised that the man had been able to focus on him. He liked this town.

"Oh, hi," he said with a grin and held out his hand. "My name's Jack. Jack Frost. Nice to meet you."

The Santa-look-alike's eyebrows rose several inches. "Jack Frost?" he asked, almost as if he didn't believe what he'd just heard.

"Yeah," Jack said, leaning casually against his staff. "I was told North is here. Can I see him?"

The short man blinked. "North?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jack urged. "You know, Nicholas St. North? Santa Claus? St. Nick?"

The man's eyes cleared of confusion and he nodded. "How may I help you?"

Jack's smile faded and he couldn't help the wry humor as he spoke. "Sorry, little guy, but you're not North."

The man frowned. "I assure you I am Santa Claus."

"Uh-huh. You're a tall, Russian man who delivers presents to children every Christmas Eve?" Jack asked skeptically.

The man's nod seemed firm enough. "I have no nationality. I belong to all nations, but I do indeed deliver gifts every Christmas Eve. Here now, young man, what is all of this about?"

Jack wanted to sigh, but instead he just shook his head. "Look, can you just tell North that I'm alright? That Jack's okay and he doesn't have to worry?"

The little man's frown seemed contemplative enough as he studied Jack. Finally he answered slowly, "Yes."

"Thank you," Jack said and turned around. "Later, little guy. You may want to dress up as Sandman next time. It would be more believable."

And, very thankful that he'd avoided the lecture for now, he took off into the air, riding the wind high and away. He still needed to figure out where he was.

xXx

"Who was that, dear?" Mrs. Claus asked as Santa closed the door.

Santa rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "He said his name was 'Jack Frost'."

Mrs. Claus peeked her head in, surprised. "Jack Frost? And he wasn't an elf?" The elves did have a tendency to give their children very symbolic names.

"No, I don't think so. And what's more, he flew away."

Mrs. Claus's eyes widened even more. "He what?"

Santa shook his head with a sigh. "I fear we are in for an interesting season."

"Indeed," Mrs. Claus agreed. Then she went to make some of her famous hot-chocolate. She hadn't seen her husband that troubled since the Halloween debacle, and she knew a mug of the warm drink would be just what Santa needed to calm down.

xXx

Nicholas St. North was not happy.

"You say he did what?" he asked the yeti that had burst in (yet again) to his personal workshop.

The Yeti threw out some hurried garble that he barely caught and had to mentally go over so he could process it. When he did, his face paled. "Shostakovich!"

With that, he raced from the room and into the mess that Jack Frost had created. He reached the storage room for his snow globes in moments and almost reeled from the enormous magical backlash that practically bombarded him.

After a moment of adjustment, he managed to walk into the ruined room to take a look around. Glass littered the floor, and he could only see a few snow globes that hadn't broken (also on the floor). The shelves were in shambles, far more so than they should be after having been run into by even an immortal teenager. A familiar knot began to wind in his belly.

"This is not good," he muttered then whirled on the yetis that had gathered around the door. "Take inventory. We must know exactly which ones activated before we will know where he went."

Although 'where' didn't bother North so much as 'when' or even 'if'…because that number of snow globes at once could easily punch a hole through to another dimension…and if that had happened, then there was almost nothing North or the other Guardians could do to help Jack.

If that were the case, they may never see their newest member of the Guardians ever again.