Jack had loved winter for as long as he could remember. All three hundred plus years. Ever since he had regained his memories, however, he knew it went back even farther than that. As a human, winter was always his favorite season because of all the snowball fights, sled races, snowmen armies and convenient ammo for stuffing down little sisters' shirts. He loved remembering her adorable giggles and squeals as he led her into a fantasy land of fluffy whiteness, where games and fun seemedto literally drip from the ice laden branches.
When he came back as the spirit of winter he found that he had new abilities to help him enjoy the season even more. He was never bothered by the cold. He was able to make friends with the winds and fly, fly! He was always the first to see each perfect little snowflake. And for some reason, he now found it difficult to slip on ice.
Now, it wasn't that he couldn't slip on ice. It was more like he somehow could tell exactly where rough patches were and exactly how quickly he should move. All this without putting the slightest thought into it. If he was surprised though, or overwhelmed by something, he could easily fall with a bit of flailing and a whump on his back. But it had been over fifty years since the last time that had happened.
So it was understandable that after so long of not having to worry about the slickness of ice that he was doubled over and holding his sides as he shook with laughter at the guardians' attempt at ice skating. Jack had been sweet talked into attempting to sew a teddy bear, paint a googie, mold things out of sand, and identify teeth in the ten months since the close of the battle with Pitch. Each guardian had reacted differently as he one by one failed horribly at the tasks given to him.
At the sight of his sideways-headed, three limbed teddy bear, North had laughed so hard he cried. The googie he had painted, when set back amongst the others, had immediately began to be teased and picked on until the outbreak of a googie fight that resulted in thirteen destroyed googies and forty-seven in need of a new coat of paint. Bunny had assessed the situation and calmly forbade Jack from painting any more of them. Ever. Sandy had eventually gotten across that it wasn't fair to ask a sand sculpture of someone that couldn't control sand like he could, and Tooth had given him a forced smile, telling him that it didn't matter that he sorted every single one wrongly, he had still helped. Somehow.
But now it was his turn to watch, and he was loving it. Sandy slid past him, turning in slow circles on his rump and gave a dead pan wave as he caught Jack's eye. North and Tooth were facing each other and trying to stay up by inter locking hands, though the height and weight difference was really only making things worse for both of them. Bunny was sitting on the bank of the lake, muttering to himself as he fussed with his skates. He looked up when he realized Jack was glancing at him, the latters eyes still sparkling with amusement.
"Ey, what you laughin' at ya drongo?!"
"Oh nothing, nothing." He said as he sauntered over to Bunny, staff hooked behind his neck, making a show of how easy this was for him. "Just wondering why you gave up so fast."
"ey! No ones givin' up. I'm just... Readjustin' things." Jack snickered shamelessly. "Don't ya go gigglin' at me! I'd be skatin' rings around you if there were skates that fit my feet right. Shoes were never meant for rabbits, mate."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say, Flopsy. But really, I think everyone's about ready to quit. We've been here for an hour and a half, and while I'm still laughing, it looks like no one else is having fun any more."
"Ya mean I can take these things off? Now there's some welcome news!" He immediately began pulling on the left skate, which came off after a few hard tugs. "Never gave up, mind ya. Just don't wanna hold back anyone that wants ta leave." He started pulling on the other skate as Jack turned around to signal the others. The right skate wasn't coming off so easily, though. Bunny tugged harder and harder until, without warning it flew off of his foot, the momentum throwing him forward and into Jacks legs.
Jack only had time for half a cry as something barreled into him. He skid a foot or so, and in trying to replace his balance, threw himself backwards. For the first time in over fifty years, Jack Frost slipped and fell out on the ice. There was no whump, or rear end this time though. What there was was a sickening crack as his skull slammed into the ice. Then there was silence as darkness overtook him. He lay limply in a small, but quickly growing pool of red.
oOo
"Crikey, that did not sound good..." Cursed Bunny as he scuttled over to where his young friend lay. At seeing Jack go down, Tooth had frantically risen off of her skates and flown over to them. North and Sandy continued making their way over as quickly as they could without also ending up on the ice.
"Oh my goodness, Jack!" Gasped Tooth when she saw the winter sprite's situation.
"What ees wrong?" Called North loudly as he neared, a few steps behind Sandy. "Why ees not getting up? Ees Jack alright?"
Bunny, already on the ground, stuck one of his large ears against Jacks chest. "He's breathin'. That's somethin' at least." He informed them all. Everyone was standing around Jack now, wondering what to do next.
"Jack, wake up." whispered Tooth tentatively as she flit from side to side. Sandy stepped forward with a sand-made giant hand and mimed slapping Jack a few times.
"No, ya dill! He's got a head injury. Lets take 'im back to the pole, fix up his head wound, and then worry about wakin' 'im up." Sandy nodded, looking only slightly sheepish, while North pulled a transport globe out of his front pocket. Bunny stood up and shook himself off. He went to grab Jack, but Sandy already had him in a sand hammock.
By the time they found a room to lay him in, Jacks head wound had already clotted. This calmed them all slightly, but no one liked the size of the bump rising on he back of his skull. Tooth took it upon herself to clean the wound and wash the bright crimson stain out of Jack's hair. When all was taken care of, they decided that the best thing they could do was let him sleep it off. Nothing they did was waking him up anyway.
"Please don't be in coma, Jack." Whispered North as he took his turn keeping an eye on the boy during his third day of sleep. "That would... What ees slang nowadays... Suck." They all made sure he didn't come down with a fever, and even checked his pupils at one point. All they could tell was that his pupils did dilate, but not what that meant.
It was five days before Jack regained consciousness. Bunny was readjusting his blankets when Jack took a sudden, abnormally deep breath and cracked open his eyes. "Jack! Yer awake!" The guardian of hope exclaimed excitedly. He ran and stuck his head out the door. "North! C'mere! Frostbites awake!" He hopped back and ruffled Jacks hair carefully. "Blimey ya gave us a shock, snowflake! How ya feelin'?" Bleary eyes looked up at Bunny slowly.
"Where am I?" Jack asked. He moved on to analyzing the room around him.
"A room in the workshop. North cleared it out so ya'd have a place ta rest easy for a tick."
"By tick, Bunny ees meaning five days. We were beginning to have real concern for you, Jack." North had entered and was now standing by the end of the bed.
"I don't... I... Sorry. But-" Jack mumbled, only to be cut off.
"We must call Sandy and Tooth! They will be wanting to know of improvement." He turned to the door, where a small congregation of yetis had gathered. Bunny took this opportunity to scrutinize the pale youth closely. He looked better, that was definite. His bump had nearly quartered in size, and he knew that the gash on Jack's head was almost completely healed. That being said though, Bunnymund did not like the way Jack was staring at North and him. He had a deep furrow in his brow, and seemed disoriented. Like he couldn't quite get a grasp on reality.
Bunny hopped closer to the bedside. "Ya never answered my question. Are ya feelin' okay?"
"Yeah...just... I don't know. Can you tell me-"
"Of course ees not feeling well!" The jolly man interrupted, making his way back to the bed. Instructions had been given, and the yetis dispersed so North had rejoined the conversation. "Has been asleep for five days! Must be hungry."
"Is that it, mate? Ya feelin' a bit nippy?"
"No, that's not... Well, maybe a little, but that's besides the point! What I really want to know is-"
"Where bathroom ees?" Asked North, interrupting the poor boy yet again. "This ees different part of workshop. It ees-"
"No!" Said Jack loudly. "Listen to me! How did I get here? What is this workshop you keep talking about? And who the heck are the two of you?!"
