~Lovely Unknown~

The morning was cold and brisk. The smell of ozone was in the air, and the winds brought promises of a new coming storm. The ocean below was crazed, thrashing about in a foamy fight against the sea and sky. Jack wondered how the Baby Teeth were doing as they flew about in the storm, trying to collect the teeth. Baby Tooth had gone to join them just moments ago, sensing that she was needed somewhere in the higher regions of Europe. He hoped she wouldn't freeze in the storm, it was getting very harsh; hard conditions for flying. But Jack didn't have to worry about any of that right now, he wasn't flying under the storm clouds, he was overtop them. And right now there was nothing but the silence of the stars above, and the moon's light shining on the cloud's fluffy tops. It was peaceful, and Jack breathed a sigh of contentment. He had missed the sky in the hours in the North Pole, and was elated to be back in his element. But Katherine wasn't sharing his attitude on flying in the slightest.

She clung to Jack's back for her life, her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his waist. Even though she had flown hundreds of times on her goose, Kailash, she seemed to be uneasy with air travel on the back of a winter spirit. When Jack had pretended to be offended, she had defended herself by saying it was only because Kailash had control all the time, because she used her wings to fly (Although the creature's wings were not fit for flying, one being very injured from the fight the past night). Jack completely relied on the wind to carry him through the air. And the wind was being very unpredictable, indeed.

Jack wrote it off as the weather, but he had almost completely lost control a few times. They had once almost fallen below the clouds, and into the storm, but Jack had managed to drive a Southern breeze to come to their aid just in time. He tried to laugh it off, but Katherine's guard had been up ever since then.

"Calm down!" He laughed at her, but his voice was a hoarse croak; she was about to strangle him with her harsh grip. "Just think of it as a piggy back ride, thousands of feet up in the air!"

Katherine's eyes were wide as dinner plates, but she nodded and swallowed, whispering, "Just a piggy back ride…"

Jack chuckled and turned his attention back onto his flying, and Katherine let her head rest on Jacks shoulder. Jack wished he could just relax, he was starting to nod off. It was getting harder to concentrate on the currents; Jack had never flown this long before, especially with a person who completely depended on him instead of flying herself. It had been slow work, but they were nearing the mainland. They had flown all night, and into the early moments of morning. Katherine's grip on his neck began to slip and he wondered if she had fallen asleep.

Jack smiled. He had been wishing she would fall asleep; while he had been sleeping in his confinement room she had been busy planning their escape that night. And how wonderful it was to escape, and be free! Jack couldn't stand being in one place for too long, it drove him mad. And the fact that he couldn't stay still in one place too long drew other people mad. But now he was free, soaring above the clouds on a wonderful winter night. The moon was waxing and would be full in about a week or two. The sky was starting to lighten, and Jack knew that there would be a beautiful sunrise soon.

"Jack?" Katherine asked drowsily. "How much farther?"

Jack looked up, to the stars. He had learned to navigate them quite well, since he was constantly flying over the ocean and around the North and South Pole. "I'm pretty sure we're almost, if not already, in Russia. Where is this Sutoof Cloosen place you were rambling about?"

Katherine scoffed. "Its Santoff Clausen, Frost Face. It's on the east side of Russia."

Jack willed the winds to turn to the left, to the east. It was hard work; the winds didn't like to carry such heavy loads. But after a moment, Jack persuaded a breeze to carry them eastward. Katherine sighed and turned her head to the right, looking up at the stars. She had been unusually quiet that night. Jack could tell Nightlight was on her mind, and he was on his own mind as well. He hoped that Katherine had considered going into Pitch's caves to see the mural painting he had seen before, and then they could possibly sneak into the main room and try to save Nightlight. Jack had a feeling that Pitch wouldn't kill the boy; he was smarter than that. He had taken Emma, and if he had Nightlight as well, the two were good hostages. So there was hope for the spectral boy.

They glided across the sky for a while longer, and all was silent and still as they thought to themselves. A small smile was grew on Katherine's face as she held onto Jack, listening to the quiet of their breathing and their cloaks flapping behind them. The stars twinkled above, the moon smiled down at them, and the clouds below were as still as a meadow covered with fresh fallen snow. It all seemed so peaceful. But after so much commotion, and so much fighting, it seemed…. Wrong. Like something was amiss. Like they were being watched.

Suddenly the air around them started to flow more choppily, loosing its easy, flowing current. Jack held out his arms and tried to steady them, they had just fallen off course of the wind's path.

"Jack?" Katherine asked. "What's going on?"

Jack frowned. "Just a little… turbulence." He said with an airplane attendant voice. But it felt like a little more than just turbulence. His forehead was beading with sweat as he fought to find the wind current they had been riding before. But there was nothing. It was like suddenly all of the air around them had stopped, and there was nothing left for them to ride. To Jack it felt like the small strands of air that kept them airborne had been snipped, and he was left grabbing for the useless broken threads as they dangled by a string. This had never happened to him before. Then, suddenly, Jack felt a tremor go through the air, like a clap of silent thunder; the snipping of their last thread. Then before he had the chance to blink he heard screaming, and realized that the two of them were falling.

Jack and Katherine fell like rocks, plummeting down to the ground below. Katherine screamed at the top of her lungs, gripping onto Jack for her life. There was nothing around them but white, and Jack knew that they had fallen into the clouds. He tried to think of what to do, but it was hard to think with Katherine screaming in his ears. But after a moment he realized her voice was not only raised in terror; he was screaming as well.

"Jack!" Katherine yelled, repeating his name over and over, like he hadn't realized they were falling. But there was nothing Jack could do but scream as they shot through the skies, like a flightless bird.

It was colder below the clouds, and certainly less peaceful. Snowflakes swirled around them, biting their faces and getting stuck in their hair. The winds tossed them about violently, as if to rip them apart. He called out to the wind, begging it to help. But there was nothing but silence. He had lost all control of the air currents; it was almost like someone else had control of them.

It took Jack a moment to realize the pressure on his back was gone, that he didn't have Katherine's screams in his ears. He whirled around, searching for her. She was freefalling yards away from him, and much lower. The winds whipped her about as they were doing to Jack, but much less violently. She gazed up at Jack with a look of pure fear, her orange locks flying about like fire. Jack fought against the winds and dived down to her, grabbing her hand and they fell together, side by side. It was harder to be tossed about when you had a person beside you.

"What's going on?" She called out to him.

Jack stared around frightfully, forcefully laughing at their predicament. "I have no idea!"

Katherine seemed to take a few moments to calm herself after he said this, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. "How far are we from the ground?" She yelled shakily.

Through the blinding white of the snowstorm Jack squinted down to the ground. There was good news and bad news about what he saw. The good news? They had made it to Russia. The bad news? They had made it to Russia. And it was getting closer by the second. The tips of some scattered fir trees dotted the ground far in the distance and stretched as far as the eye could see, and below them was the harsh and treeless Tundra. There were feet of snow all over the ground, but not enough snow to cushion their fall.

"Um…" Jack said. "Not that far."

Katherine was muttering under her breath, and Jack heard the words, "Going to die," "Jack", "Egghead", and "Splat". She opened her eyes, but instead of looking at the ground she looked at Jack, her eyes desperate and fearful. But her face went white as she looked beyond his face, and into the clouds, and her body froze up.

"What?" Jack asked, looking all around. "What is it?"

"It-it cant be!" Katherine gasped. "It just cant be!"

Katherine's pupils were dilated, and her mouth wide open as she exclaimed, "It-it's her!"

Jack immediately assumed the worse, and knew that she was talking about Emma. Jack tried to respond but when he looked to his side he was so shocked he lost his voice. There was a person, a woman, no less than 30 feet away from them. And she was definitely not Emma.

She wore a beautiful long green dress that almost seemed to fade away into the clouds that surrounded her, as well as her long black hair. She seemed to be supported by the clouds, and was flying towards them with great speed. She had a lovely, long face, but Jack couldn't quite read her expression. Her eyes shone with determination, and yet Jack sensed fatigue in her body language. He was speechless. But it wasn't the fact that a woman was flying through the storm to either save or attack them that startled him. It was the fact that he had seen her face before; in the shadows of the treetops, in the swirling patterns of the snow, in the currents of the ocean waters. She watched over everything, listened to every confrontation as she hid the wildlife around her. Everything clicked into place as he whispered her name under his breath.

"Mother Nature."

The woman reached out her arms and Jack was enfolded into the woman's embrace, as well as Katherine. Jack was so in shock he just stared up at her in awe, his eyes wide.

"Hold on!" She yelled through the whistling winds. Jack and Katherine obeyed.

She turned to the ground and they flew with a speed not even Jack could muster on his good days. She controlled the winds with such ease, as if there was no effort in it at all. Jack and Katherine held onto her tightly, unbelieving that she was really here, right now, and that she had just saved their lives. She smelled like the first blossom of spring, and the bittersweet smell of rain on dry earth. She didn't look down at them; she appeared to be occupied enough flying though the storm.

In just a few moments she slowed, her grip slackened, and Katherine and Jack fell out of her arms and onto the snow covered ground. She landed gracefully in front of them, holding herself with a regal air, although she looked rather… fatigued. Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly. There were dark circles under her eyes. She looked frail, like she would blow away, and she was so pale Jack wondered if she was going to disappear into the snowstorm. The cold winds seemed to chill her to the bone, yet she didn't have the strength to stay warm and alive, and let the winds blow.

Her hair swirled about her face, which was emotionless as the winter landscape around them. Her eyes made Jack uneasy, she seemed so…. Mysterious. Bunny had warned him once that Mother Nature wasn't always a benevolent soul. She was very unpredictable, like the weather patterns. But she didn't look like she would dare attack in her weak state. Besides, she had just saved their lives. Jack felt like he owed the woman something, in return for their lives. He smiled at her weakly, trying to convey his thanks. But Katherine was as expressionless as a rock.

Katherine glared at her with a strange, steely look; almost like she was a little overfamiliar with the woman. And so for many seconds they stood there, in silence, while the snow fell around them.

Jack tried to break the silence by thanking her for saving them, but the words came out differently than he thought they would. "Aren't you…. Aren't you supposed to be in Bunny's warren?" He asked slowly.

Mother Nature looked over Jack with a rock hard gaze. Jack flustered to find the right words as he continued on. "Isn't it like, dangerous out here? For you?"

She paused for a moment, and the question hung in the air. She took a shaky breath and spoke.

"Yes." She said.

"Then why are you here, and not at the Warren?" Katherine asked, her voice calm and vacant, almost crisp with some kind of strange sense of hatred.

Mother Nature's mouth curled up in a sad smile. "I guess you could say, its because I had more… important matters to attend to."

Katherine looked stunned, and a little more angered. "But why?" She said. "Why risk your life out here in the cold, to save us? Especially when you have the weight of the world's balance on your shoulders?"

The woman looked down, almost like she was asking herself that question. When she looked back up she had a new kind of look in her eyes. Desperation? Sadness? Greif? Weakness? Jack didn't know. He wasn't good at reading emotions.

"Because," She said, "My time… it's nearly here."

Jack's heart stopped beating in his chest. Katherine's gaze seemed to soften at these words, and Mother Nature continued on.

"I'm too weak to keep my physical form intact, the world has fallen far too out of balance. The cold and dark have overcome the warmth and light, and there is nothing more I can do. The Prophecy has been set in motion. That is why I am here…. and that is why you are here."

She sighed. "I know your destination, children, and the path ahead is treacherous. You cannot travel by air anymore, its far too dangerous. The winds are almost uncontrollable. I am unable to help you on your way to find the prophecy, but with my last bit of energy I give you my blessing and send you on your way. That," She said sharply to Katherine (Who was looking rather sheepish), "Is why I am here.

"I offer you a gift, and a clue," She said. "To help you on your journey."

She lowered her hands, and within them sat a strange and curious object. She stepped forward and Jack and Katherine peered at the gift. It was a small glass sphere on a chain; a necklace. It looked old, and it was rusting. And inside of this glass chamber sat three small seeds, dandelion seeds.

"This necklace will lead you on your way," She said, placing the necklace over Katherine's head. "Each seed, when released, with guide you to a Guardian of Santoff Claussen. Or, if you are in danger, it can lead one to you."

Katherine held the necklace in her gloved hands, speechless. Then she looked up at the woman with an expression of awe, and all she could say was, "Thank you."

Mother Nature nodded in respect to the girl, and turned to Jack. "Keep her safe, Guardian of Fun," She said.

Jack smiled cheekily, trying to hide the embarrassment he was still feeling from falling from the sky and putting her in danger in the first place. "Don't worry," He said. "We wont be flying anymore. And besides, destroying NightMares is my specialty. We'll be perfectly safe"

Mother Nature looked puzzled for a moment, but decided not to speak more on the subject. Jack had a feeling she had meant to protect her from something else, and he feared that that he might have to learn what she had to say the hard way.

Mother Nature stepped back, her feet crunching in the snow. The light from her eyes was long gone, like she was becoming the empty shell of a person she had once been. Her composure slacked even worse, and Jack realized over the course of their conversation her dress had lost its beautiful shade of green, and now looked rather dry and dark, like a dead leaf. She had given all of her energy to save them, and to help them on their way. Her time was here, and her life was done. The snow seemed to be piling onto of her dress, almost as if the earth was claiming her weakened body. She noticed this as well, and her expression grew dark.

"Goodbye, children," She said, and the snow started to fall much more heavily, in so much that they could only see her face though the white. "I wish you the best luck on your way. Discover the prophecy, stop Pitch's plan. Set balance to the Earth, and save the children. You have until the darkest day of the year to set all this right, and it is looming nearer than any of us dare to think."

Then, before Katherine or Jack could ask her what she meant, she had disappeared in a flurry of snowflakes. Katherine stood, frozen, and Jack as well. Then, without another word, Katherine began to trudge east through the deep snow and towards the forestland, leaving Jack behind in a daze. Jack hollered and ran up to her, feeling shaken.

"Katherine, what does that mean?" Jack asked her, feeling a little hollow inside from the fearful news. "'The darkest day is looming… how far away is 'looming' exactly?"

Katherine swallowed. "The darkest day of the year is less than a week away." She said. "We have less than a week to discover this prophecy, and we only have one piece of information and its this stupid necklace, and then we have to make it back to the Pole in time to tell the others. We need to move fast." She seemed to be breathing a little faster than normal, and Jack could tell the news was making her feel overwhelmed. She stepped faster, her grey eyes determined and facing directly ahead.

"But what is the darkest day? When is it?" Jack asked.

Katherine stopped and looked up at him with a horrified expression. "December 21st, " She whispered.

"The Winter Solstice."

Jack seemed to freeze for a second. The winter solstice. They not only could not fly, but now they had a deadline.

"So... now what do we do?" Jack asked Katherine softly.

Katherine laughed. "We do what all great heroes do best. We trudge off into the lovely unknown."