Jack's Little Secret
When the Man in Moon told Jack that he was a Guardian, he didn't believe him at first. That all changed when he, the guardians and the children, defeated Pitch and his Nightmares. The other Guardians are North the Santa Claus, Bunnymund the Easter Bunny, Toothiana the Tooth Fairy and Sandy the Sandman. The Guardian Ceremony was performed, again, and Jack became a true guardian for the Children, he became the Guardian of Fun. After the ceremony, Jack and the rest of the guardians, brought back all the Tooth Boxes to the Tooth Palace where they belong.
At the North pole, North held a small party to celebrate Jack for becoming a Guardian, the children for bringing back Sandy and together defeating Pitch and his Nightmares. There was some Christmas singing, dancing, games and a lot of laughter. North even challenged Bunny in an Eggnog competition, which Bunny lost. Poor Bunny, he will have one MASSIVE headache in the morning.
Now, it has been a year since then and things have changed. The children can see Jack now, which is a blast! He wasn't sure it would reach the other children but it did. Jack had a lot of winter fun with them, throwing snowballs at each other, building an army of snowmen, in other words having fun. Sure it was a slow process but it worked out okay.
Whenever the children went back to there parents, they would say 'goodbye's Jack' and 'see you around, Jack', that he would feel sad and depressed. He flew out of Russia to get his head cleared and pull a prank or five at some unexpected victims. It brought him a little cheer in himself.
Sigh "Where will I go next? Europe, Asia or I could go to the desert at night and leave some snow behind?" Jack thought out loud as he was thinking for his destination. But he decides to go somewhere that he hasn't been in over a year. He looks at his left wrist. "Nah, there is one thing that I need right now." With a determined face he flies to the coldest place in the world, Antartica. At Antartica he walks to a mountain. There he goes through the crack and enters a cavern. He opens a hidden tunnel with his staff, walks in the tunnel and the door closes behind him.
The temperature inside the tunnel is cold but as he walks further inside it becomes pleasantly warm, Jack is used to this because he comes here every time when he wants to be alone or is depressed. The warmed to Jack feels huggable. He exits the tunnel and enters the cave, he stops and admires his collection that he gathered over the years. He puts his hands on his side, inhales deeply, holds it and releases it before he speaks. "Home sweet home"
The cave is dome-shaped and it was big like a two-stored house. The wall was filled with bunny drawings playing in the field, training with wooden sticks, laying out traps, making there own food and battling enemies. One part of the drawing shows there was a heavy battle, the losses were high but the rest of the drawing was gone, destroyed beyond repair. There was a bed, which was a big grey beanbag that he got from North when he heard that Jack sleeps on the ground or in the trees, he wanted to give Jack a real bed to sleep in but Jack convinced him otherwise. Jack used it often to get some sleep if he needed it. On the sealing is a big glowing orb that acts as the sun, much like Bunnymund's warren. There are some crates stacked together at some arias of the wall, containing various items that he found on his travels or were already there when he came. Leaning next to the crates is a full body mirror, which he got from Tooth as a gift so that he could see himself better. She wasn't wrong about it. In the center of the cave stands an altar. On top of that altar rests a brown leather bracelet with a bunny design on it, and at its center lies a blue gem that represents the heart of the bunny.
Jack walks up to the altar, grabs the bracelet, puts it on his left wrist and transforms into a snow white, fur covered, long eared, fluffy tailed bunny, a Pooka. He removes his clothes and looks at himself from top to bottom at the mirror. He adjusted his stands to keep his balance. He remembers the first time he became like this like it was yesterday.
It happened during the winter in Burgess when he was a spirit of a 100 years old. The town was growing becoming more modern with each year. Jack had just delivered the winter there and was having some fun. After that he wanted to make the kids belief in him but it backfired on him again, and again. So he flew away to the coldest place he knew of, Antartica, to vent out some much needed steam. He walked there for he few hours and even talked to MiM about his problem but, as usual, he still refused to tell Jack what he's supposed to be doing. He felt alone, sad and depressed. Jack finds a makeshift shelter of snow and decides to take a nap there. He barely leans to the wall before he lands on the ground on his back. He rolls over and looks at the tunnel of ice. His expression turned from frowning to wonder. Never in his life had he seen something like this, as he stands up and looks around with his head. He sees a variety of blue's in the tunnel, Jack was mesmerized by it.
Suddenly he feels a small pull in his chest, a pull that felt pleasantly warm to him, he never felt that before. The pull in his chest indicates that there is a presence of a spirit but somehow this one felt different. Without a second thought he got up and followed this warm strange pull, walking deeper in the cave. As he kept walking the pull never changed, it always stayed the same.
By the time he exited the tunnel he came into the cave itself. Jack was taken by surprise at the size of the cave and it shined daylight inside. He looked around as he got to the center of the cave. He saw drawing all over the wall. He couldn't recognize the style only the people, they were white bunnies, lots and lots of white bunnies. It told a story of what they do in there daily life and what had happened to them but a part of the drawings was destroyed. At the center he looks up and feels the sun rays entering his body, he felt warm, he felt energized.
A little flicker got his attention, he looks closer and sees an altar. He feels the warm pull again, telling him to come closer. Jack is confused, should he go to the altar or get out and forget about it, but the pull didn't left his chest and so with a sigh and slowly walks to the altar. He looks at what rest on it, a leather bracelet with an intricate design of a bunny and in the center rest a blue gem. Jack hesitantly grabs the bracelet bringing it closer to his face. He feels the stitches and leather, wondering who had made it and why they had left it.
A strange thought has crept in his mind telling him to wear the bracelet. Without hesitation he rolls up his sleeve and puts it on strapping it in place. He admires it a bit thinking that it looks really good on him. He pulls his sleeve down and walks around to find anything else in. When he did't find much, some weapons, clothes, bowl and a couple of scrolls, he walks out of the cave back into Antartica.
For the first month he did his usual work, bringing the cold and snow to the world with some fun and pranks in the mix. Nothing unusual except the warm feeling in his chest never left him, it grew. He found it odd but gave it no second thought, figuring that it belongs to the bracelet he had on his wrist. What he did found unusual is his body, he felt strange in it like it didn't belong to him at all. He slept longer on some days. His reflexes and sprints became quicker and faster. Also after a full day of having fun he had aches in his joints, feet and hands. Jack tried to take off the bracelet but it would budge.
The second month was something different. He developed an appetite for carrots, which was strange to him. He was a spirit, he didn't need food or water to get around, sleep yes but, food? The warm feeling had grown from his chest to his entire body. It didn't feel as if he was being choked but more in a way of being comforted. He saw some kids playing in the park. One of the kids fell off a branch hitting the ground. The kid was comforted by the parents and that warm feeling had spread throughout his body. It scared him and he ran away, far away to be alone. He thought he was losing his mind and for the very first time he cried. His tears would freeze by skin never hitting the ground but becoming snow. The warm feeling kept him comfort even if he did not want it, it kept with him throughout the night.
The third and final month took him by surprise. He had been turned into a giant white fluffy bunny. Jack looked himself in the water at his hometown where he was born. He still looked like himself but the outside was different. This happened when he felt uncomfortable wearing clothes, as if they started to shrink in size. So he took it off and felt better. He got worried that the other spirits might see him like this, so only kept his underwear on and hid the rest of his clothes in under a rock. He did his daily work by making it snow and having fun. He saw a couple of spirits but they never saw him. He avoids them for they are not happy to be with him. One night he fell asleep on a tree branch and during the full moon he transformed into what he has become now, a white fluffy bunny.
Jack tried to get the bracelet off during those three months but it never budged, until now. He untied the knot and the bracelet fell on the ground. He wore his clothes again but the pants was something he couldn't get his legs in thanks to his big feet, so he left that behind along with the bracelet. He went around the world wherever the wind guided him to bring snow in his shirt until he too hides it with his belongings. The warm feeling in his chest felt happy and in a strange way he felt happy to be a bunny. Sure his senses and strength have increased but he didn't want to stay a bunny forever. He event thought that MiM was punishing him for something he had done in the past, but he didn't know what. So the next three months he went as the snow bunny, bringing snow to the world. The kids even thought that the easter bunny was there because he left behind footprints as a prank. The real bunny, was not pleased by this and even started to search the spirit responsible for it and teach that spirit a lesson. Jack avoided Bunny wherever he went. It's not that he wants to show Bunny that he is a bunny as well but that Bunny would not hear him out and so runs away. Bunny did find him from a distance and gave chase but Jack was young and faster then Bunny. Jack manages to hide undetectable by going into town and ducks under the back porch at an abandoned house. Bunny finds his scent but can't go further as his ears pick up a couple of kids coming in his direction. He makes a hole and disappears, Jack witnessing it.
Once the kids are gone he flies to where he left his clothes and bracelet and flies to Antartica to the hidden cave. Inside he drops his stuff, exhausted from todays activities. His entire body felt heavy his muscles ached and he was tired from running. He lies on the floor bringing his body close to himself and closes his eyes, letting sleep take over him.
The next morning he woke up as a human, embarrassed he puts his clothes on except the bracelet, he puts that back on the altar. Without a second look he flies away from that place, to conflicted to go there again.
He doesn't know how long it has been that he left the bracelet behind. A week, a month, two months, he doesn't know. All he knows is that the feeling in his chest never left, in fact it rather small. He was sitting at the edge of a hill with the forest in his back looking at the night sky, Looking at MiM with a sad face, he looked lost.
"I… I don't know what to do." Jack looks up at MiM in the hope that HE would give him an answer. "Should I… should I follow this. To become something that I'm not." He pleads to MiM. But MiM doesn't answer.
"Jack" a tiny whisper was heard that was barely noticeable. Jack looks around to see nothing. The whisper comes again. "Jack..." The voice sounded like a child. The warmed in his chest grow a little bit. Jack follows the voice first on foot in the forest then by air with the wind. The wind picked Jack up and together they searched for the voice. The search went to a colder climate, the closer he got to the voice the warmer his chest and body became. In his mind it clicked that the voice came from the cave. When he entered the cave the warm huge able feeling of comfort radiated throughout his body. The voice that ones was so small became loud and clear. It wasn't the voice of a child, it was the voice of the tribe. During his time as a giant bunny he had a lot of fun and would never admit it to anyone but he liked it, Jack Frost likes being a giant bunny.
"Pooka..." the voice said, a female voice, a gentle voice.
"What" Jack responded.
"...Pooka…" repeated the voice. "...That's what we are as species..." a warm touch gribbed Jack's heart, his eyes became glossy with tears. This wasn't pain, this was comfort and love. Jack puts his hand on his heart, smiles to himself and wipes the tears away. He walks to the altar with happiness. At the altar still lies the bracelet, he grabs it and puts it on. He hears the whispers say something, he listens hard until it was clear.
"…Touch the stone…" Jack closes his eyes, places his hand on the gem. "… clear your mind..." he clears his mind focussing only on his heart. "… now say Pooka..."
"Pooka" the gem glows and his body transforms into a snow white Pooka. The pants still felt to tight on his legs. The voices praise Jack and his feels the warmed of the entire tribe. The gentle voice tells Jack something.
"You don't have to be afraid anymore, Jack. We want to accept you as part of our tribe. Will you let us give you love that you didn't had as a spirit?" Tears fell down his cheeks and onto the ground. Never in his life as a spirit had this happened to him. The voice, the tribe wanted him to be a part of them, there culture. He felt loved, he felt accepted. Jack pulled himself together as best as possible and accepted the offer. This cave becomes his new home where no one was going to bother him or find him. In here he felt at peace with the snow Pooka tribe.
Back at the present, Jack is brought back from his memory lane. He puts the bracelet on, closes his eyes, clears his mind, places his hand on the gem and says the word "Pooka". Jack transform into a Snow Pooka and already he feels the love in his body grow. The issue with his pants have been solved thanks to the flexible denims that he found, they didn't feel tight anymore. A silly idea pops in his head, it might be crazy but also a lot of fun.
"Would you all be interested in going outside and see the world?" He asked to his tribe. His response was a warble of 'yes's', 'ya's' and 'absolutely'. So without further delay he runs outside, jumps in the air and off he goes. To show the tribe what has changed and pulling out some pranks, while making sure not to be spotted by the guardians or spirits. He also took a mantle note to keep the bracelet on. So that he could transform into a Pooka when he wants to on the spot.
"This is going to be a blast."