Jack grumbled to himself from under the massive sand umbrella that Sandy had created for him. The Guardians had declared that they needed a vacation, and that their destination would be the beach. Of course they would have to pick the one place that Jack would object to. How about the Himalayas, I hear they're nice? Maybe even the Grand Canyon? But no, it had to be the beach. North and Tooth were in the midst of a splash war and it wasn't clear who the winner would be. North created massive waves with his enormous hands, but Tooth skimmed across the water, sending the whitecaps flying with her wings. Bunny had dipped in for a while but mumbled something about wet fur and had plopped on the burning sand to dry off. Sandy had stayed by Jack, but in the sun, and was smiling as he absorbed the rays on his sand.
Jack was miserable and wanted nothing more than to relax into a giant pile of snow, maybe get caught in a blizzard or two. Anything but the beach. In his 300 years alone he had done a lot of exploring and travelling, even visiting the Sahara (that had been a disaster). But the one place that he never wanted to step foot on was the beach. He didn't know specifically what it was about it that he despised so much, maybe it was the incessant sun boiling the sand. It could have been the warm water that sent chills up his spine when he touched it (but not the good kind). All he knew was that the heat was not good.
The Guardians had had none of his complaints and called him a baby when he protested. "A little sun will be no problem." North had said with a bone shattering slap to his back.
"Yeah, mate, you could do with a tan." Bunny had said, gesturing to Jack's pale skin.
"You could do with a tan, ya kangaroo." Jack mumbled to himself now. He rolled onto his side and froze the sand next to him, sighing as it melted almost immediately. "What's the point of a place that doesn't snow?" He called out to his friends in the water.
"It's warm." Bunny murmured from his burrow in the sand and Jack responded by throwing a snowball directly at Bunny's face. The Easter kangaroo sat up spluttering and hopped to his feet. "Oh that's it." He raced over to where Jack was slumped in the shade and dragged him to his feet. "You're going in the water, mate."
"No- Bunny! I mean it. Stop. Bunny! Tooth help me out here." He made a desperate attempt to grab his staff but Tooth swooped in and took it from his fingers.
"Sorry, Jack," she giggled from the air and assisted Bunny as he pulled a kicking Jack to the water. Jack had almost slipped free by freezing Bunny's ears together, when a sopping North grabbed Jack from behind and chucked him into the water.
"It's- t-t-terrible!" Jack exclaimed. The Guardians laughed at his posture, arms above the water and shoulders to his ears. He looked as uncomfortable as a person would be if the water were freezing. "How do you stand this? I feel like I'm going to melt." He sloshed back to shore but North pushed him back in.
"You will have fun Jack. Give it shot." The giant man encouraged. Jack bit his lip, looking mutinous. "Please, Jack?"
He sighed. "Give me my staff." Tooth looked reluctant, but Jack's face was heartbreaking as he asked, "Please, Tooth?" She smiled and swooped over to his shuddering figure. The second the boy's fingers touched the wood, frost coated it and Tooth shivered. She watched his face relax a bit and wondered how much the ancient wood meant to the spirit. "I'm not happy about this," he declared to the group at large.
"But you'll give it a try? Oh yay!" Tooth swirled overhead in tight circles and Babytooth gave an excited squeak from her side.
"I can't even swim," he grumbled to himself, staring at the water with apprehension.
"Bunny, Sandy, get over here." North commanded with a wave of his giant hand. Bunny waded further into the water and Sandy got up from his spot in the sand. The Sandman waved his golden hands and a glimmering, full size pirate ship appeared in the water. He boarded it and unfurled the sails with an air of expertise. Jack looked at it with appreciation and an idea came to mind. Using his staff, he froze the water around him and created a makeshift raft. Jack climbed on eagerly and sighed at the cold relief it offered. He plopped on his back and pulled his hood low over his face to block the sun's glare.
"Are you alright, Jack?" Tooth asked anxiously, finally seeing how uncomfortable the teen was. "Just cranky, I'm fine. Go have fun." Came Jack's muffled reply. Tooth was pelted by water by Bunny and she fluttered off, leaving Jack alone in the waves.
He really didn't want to be a damper on the Guardians' vacation, in fact, he hadn't even told them about what the heat could do to him. It made him feel like he had a fever that was burning him up from the inside out. The last time he had gotten overheated it had taken a couple days in an Antarctic blizzard to lower his body temperature again. Jack was pretty sure that the heat couldn't kill him, all it did was make him pretty miserable for a bit. He could stick it out for the others, right?
Jack's thoughts were cut short when North, who had snuck up from behind, overturned his raft. Normally, Jack could have flown to safety at a moments notice, but he was tired and his reflexes were slow. He was dumped unceremoniously into the water with barely an indignant yell to protest. He leapt from the shallows and perched atop his staff, the end sinking into the sand and the curved top jutting a foot above the small waves.
"Not cool," Jack hunched over himself, arms curled over his stomach, trying not to be sick. He was angry for a second and then reminded himself that they just thought he was being irritable that they had picked the beach. North had meant no harm.
Bunny was laughing so hard that he had to wipe tears from his eyes before replying. "What would you know about cool, snowflake?" he teased.
Jack didn't respond. He floated shakily from the water and collapsed under his umbrella. The other Guardians shared looks. Jack ignoring a chance to goad Bunny? Something was seriously wrong. They all followed Jack to the shore and peered down at the limp form below.
"Jack?" North started. "What is matter? Not enjoying prank?"
Jack's response came slowly. "Nothing… I'm fine… Just go… Have fun…" Tooth landed on the sand next to him and pushed the damp white hair away from the boy's face, giving a slight gasp of surprise at what she saw. His normally porcelain cheeks were flushed a dull red and a bead of sweat made it's way across his forehead.
"Jack!" Tooth's wings fluttered nervously and she looked up at North. "This isn't right. What should we do?"
Jack opened his glazed eyes and stared Tooth down. "Just go and have fun… I'll take care of myself." He stood as suddenly as he could and took off, almost flying straight into a palm tree before leveling out again. Tooth and Sandy were right behind him, each catching one of his arms. Sandy flashed a big X over his head and stomped his foot in midair.
"Sandy's right, you can't just leave on your own. Whatever's happening, we'll help you." Jack pulled his arms away and the wind flared up violently.
"I'm fine. This has happened before… I can take care of myself." He shot off before either Tooth or Sandy could grab him. All he needed was to get to the South Pole and he'd be fine. He was sorry he'd ever come on the trip at all and ruined the others' fun. Besides, he didn't need them to help him.
Tooth and Sandy both began chase, following his hectic pattern through the air. The winter spirit didn't seem to have much control over his powers, and snow fell over every city he passed. This was problematic, seeing as they were in the Caribbean, and Tooth called out to Jack. "Jack slow down and let us help."
Jack flew faster, skirting around South America. It was somewhere over the Pacific Ocean that Sandy finally managed to grab Jack's ankle and the two plummeted toward the water. Sandy saved himself seconds before he hit the waves, but Jack wasn't as lucky. His limp body sunk beneath the surface and remained underwater. Tooth dove in and grabbed him, pulling him to the surface. Impossibly, it seemed, he was still holding his staff.
Tooth wasn't sure what to do with the unconscious Jack and looked at Sandy, who shrugged. The water around Jack began to freeze, like the pond at the Tooth Palace had when he walked on it, and she laid him on the ice he created. Tooth watched with bated breath until she saw his chest rise and fall.
"What's wrong with him? Why'd he fly away from us?" Sandy shrugged but showed a sun and then a frowning Jack.
"The sun can hurt him? Why didn't he say something?" Sandy shrugged again and shook his head. Jack began to stir on his ice raft and sat up groggily.
"Wha-," He grunted when an excited Tooth slammed into him with a hug. "We were worried. You collapsed at the beach and then you flew away from us and you fell into the water but then you froze the water and-," Jack shushed her and massaged his temples. Tooth bit her lip and waited for Jack to explain.
He sighed. "The heat can make me sick, but don't worry it's happened before. I can handle this." He started to get up but Tooth pushed him down.
"This has happened before? And there was no one there to help you?"
Jack's eyes flashed. "Well yeah. Who was there?" He gave a bitter laugh that sent a shiver down Tooth's spine. "I was invisible for 300 years. Hell, the only reason you guys don't ignore me anymore is because I'm a Guardian all of a sudden." He turned away, hiding his face.
Tooth was stunned. Jack was a flighty person, quite literally in this case, and she had rarely seen him react to something so strongly. Looking into his icy eyes, Tooth realized that the fun loving boy they all adored had anger and pain buried deep down. "I- Jack, we-,"
Jack hopped up. "I didn't need your help back then and I don't need it now." He took off, air gusting so hard that the ice shattered and Sandy had to grab Tooth before she fell in. Neither of them followed Jack, they were too stunned to move.
Please tell me if I've made any mistakes, I'm a hasty poster. I'm debating about writing a second chapter, we'll see how that goes. Thank you for reading!