AN: Hey, to all those who are reading this, the story is mostly completed, so I may be able to update this fairly often until I catch up to where I stopped. I hope that you like it. Feel free to review, comment, criticize and of course follow.
Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians
It had been nearly six months since the battle on Easter Sunday. The Guardians, both new and old, were settled into their routines. That was when it happened.
It all started with a Guardian missing from their meeting and ended with Jack lying cold and still on a table in the medical room.
North had called the meeting to discuss their new efforts to reach the children of the world. Within minutes, the other Guardians arrived with a noticeable exception. Where was Jack?
They waited five minutes, then ten and even fifteen. Worry etched its way onto Tooth's face but they decided to start without him. "I'm sure he's just goofing off somewhere and lost track of time," Bunny stated with a laugh. "Seriously, when is he ever on time to these meetings."
The others looked uneasy but proceeded with their discussion. Jack was never this late. As the meeting wrapped up, they all had to concede that something could be wrong.
North immediately got into his leader mode. "We need to divide up and go look for him. One person should stay at the Pole in case he comes back." They all glanced at Tooth who was flying around and fretting.
She looked up from her preoccupation when the others fell silent. "What? Me? Sure, I'll stay and wait, just find him."
They all nodded to each other and decided to go to Jack's lake first before splitting up from there. "Time for the tunnels, mate," Bunny called joyously before stamping his foot and disappearing.
"Not the tunnels," North whispered under his breath before disappearing after Bunny and Sandy. They arrived quickly, metres away from the lake. All three guardians ground to an immediate halt. North felt as if ice water was trickling down his back as he took in Jack's appearance. He was lying face down in the snow bank to their left, hoodie cut up and bloody, numerous lacerations lacing his body.
North came out of his shock and barreled towards the boy before bringing himself up short. He needed to be careful as he didn't know the extent of Jack's injuries.
Sandy hovered closer to Jack, kneeling down in the snow. His golden fingers lightly brushed over the boy's head. After a few tense moments, he turned and flashed a few sparkling signs up at the other Guardians.
"He's alive, "North breathed in relief.
Bunny also dropped into the snow beside Jack, immediately checking for a pulse. "His heart rate is slow and weak, he must have lost a lot of blood. We need to stabilize him quickly before his body goes into shock and starts to shut down."
"Back to the Pole then," North announced. The three male Guardians looked at their youngest in concern. How are they going to lift him without aggravating his injuries?
It was Sandy who solved the problem, creating a cushioning cloud of dream sand that gently lifted Jack into the air without jostling him too much.
"We use globes this time," North stated, deftly fishing a glowing orb out of his pocket. "North Palace," he murmured, throwing the glove ahead of them. The four were quickly whisked away in a vortex of swirling blue light.
The four older guardians waited outside the medical room of North's palace. The medically trained yetis were working furiously inside, trying to get Jack's blood pressure up and stop the bleeding.
What felt like hours later, one of the yetis walked out of the room. His gloves and apron were stained with blood. The yeti's face was impassive and all the Guardians felt their hearts swoop as if they had started freefalling.
The yeti gestured inside where they saw Jack lying still and cold on the bed. Tooth let out a sob and got ready to flee the room when Bunny grabbed her by the wrist forcefully.
"He's still alive ya gumby," the Pooka explained. A slow but steady beep emitted by the heart monitor confirmed his words.
A collective sigh of relief echoed from the Guardians before North asked the question on everyone's mind. "What happened to him?
"Well, when was the last time someone saw him?" Bunny asked. The others thought about it, trying to think back.
"I saw Jack seven days ago," Tooth responded. Bunny nodded in agreement, it had been a week for him as well.
Sandy showed a flashing four with a picture of a moon. "Six nights ago," North translated. "He told me he was going to find Sandy six days ago. Then, Jack said he might be busy next few days but would definitely be back for Guardian meeting." North's voice broke as he thought about what could have happened to their little Snowflake.
"Did he say where he was going, Sandy?" Bunny questioned.
The golden man flashed quickly through the signs of a snowflake, then globe, pillow and alarm clock. Almost as an afterthought, he added a brief sign. Jack had said he was going to spread snow around the globe before taking a rest, but not to worry he would be on time. The only thing off was that he was a little jumpy.
"Jack was jumpy!" Tooth exclaimed, "he knew something was going to happen. Why didn't he tell one of us, we could have helped."
Before she could go into full out rant mode, the medical yeti called to them. He grunted out a long explanation while North nodded, face scrunched in concern. Several times, he glanced towards Jack, the lines on is forehead deepening in worry.
"Mind translating for us mate," Bunny asked when the yeti was finished.
North nodded distractedly. "He said that Jack lost a lot of blood but he is now stabilized. There are numerous laceration on his body, some burns and several broken bones, including a couple ribs and his wrist. Also, large amount swelling around his throat. It looks like he was," North's voice broke and he glanced towards Jack. The other Guardians looked away as the big man pulled himself together to continue. "He was … choked … many time."
The other Guardians looked horrified at all this news, but it wasn't done yet. "Jack is not allowed to talk until the swelling goes down." North's voice dropped to a whisper as he finished. "And even then, no telling what psychological trauma he have."
At this, the four of them lapsed into a heavy silence. The constant beep of the heart monitor punctured the bubble of quiet, keeping their thoughts firmly fixated on the injured boy in the bed. After several minutes, Sandy went over to the bed and gently rested a golden hand on the boy's blood streaked white hair. He bowed his head and sent a thin tendril of glowing sand onto the winter spirit, ensuring that at least for a moment, he would be happy.
"We should set a watch so that the little ankle biter will have someone there when he wakes up," Bunny suggested. As the others were nodding their heads he announced, "I'll take the first watch."
Minutes passed, then hours and the watches slowly changed. Tooth replaced Bunny, then North, then Sandy and back again. The hours eventually crawled into a day and then two. The Guardians' spirits were low and they spoke only to report no change in Jack's condition.
Half way through one of Bunny's watches, North tiptoed into the room. "Any change," he asked gruffly. The Pooka answered with a mute shake of his head, eyes resting on Jack's prone form once again. As he was about to speak, he noticed a small movement.
"Did you see that," Bunny whispered. North's wide eyes were all the answer he needed. The two of them leaned forward, anticipation running through them like electricity. Somehow, the two ended up holding hands, squeezing each other for comfort.
Suddenly, Jack gulped down a rough breath. His eyes flew open and Bunny noticed that they were a milky blue, not focusing on anything. Sensing a presence in the room, Jack flinched wildly, trying to roll his body in on himself for protection.
"Jack," North yelled, "It is just us." He rushed over to the youth and was about to put a hand on his shoulder when Bunny grabbed his wrist.
His look of confusion was met with a glare from Bunny. The rabbit's voice was soft as he spoke, "Jack, we aren't going to hurt you. I promise." North ripped his hand out of Bunny's grip and placed his hand gently on Jack's arm, trying to calm him. Instead, Jack thrashed around in his blankets, moans of pain escaping from his mouth. The heart monitor was beeping frantically.
"It's okay, its okay," North murmured, "we are here." He withdrew his hand and stepped back, exchanging a look of worry and grief with Bunny. As they backed up, they thought Jack would emerge but instead, he tensed up again, refusing to look at them.
Bunny tried again, speaking slowly and softly "Jack, it's okay. No one is going to hurt you. Why don't you just look at us and see where you are."
Slowly but surely, Jack's body relaxed. He started to unroll from himself and even cautiously put up his head. His bright blue eyes quickly swept the room as if assessing for danger. Seeing none, he gradually sat up and took in the room fully, looking down at the bed, the walls, himself, the window and finally, the Guardians standing before him. He flinched almost imperceptibly before seeing that they were friends.
"Jack," North began softly, watching with despair as even this one quiet word caused the boy to flinch. Unexpectedly, Jack started wildly patting the bed, obviously looking for something. He looked around, eyes wide with panic.
"Woah there Snowflake," Bunny murmured soothingly. "Your staff is here. I'll give it to you but first we just have to tell you that the yetis said that you shouldn't talk until the swelling in your throat goes down so that you don't damage your vocal cords."
As Bunny reached down to grab the staff, Jack's eyes grew distant, hand slowly reaching up to feel his throat. He flinched away from the puffed mass of skin.
Bunny stood awkwardly, cradling a blanket wrapped around something. He cleared his throat and spoke haltingly. "I'm sorry Jack … your staff … was, um, like this when we found you." He slowly unwrapped the blanket, revealing a worn stick, snapped in three. As he went to hand the damaged crook to the boy, he flinched away. Instead, Bunny gently laid the two halves on the bed beside him before backing up and staring down at Jack sadly.
The youth's eyes watered in grief as he gently picked up the pieces of his staff and cradled them against him. Energy drained, he slipped into unconsciousness, holding his broken conductor of power like a teddy bear.
