Ok, this is for GuestSun's Eye...Yes, I have completed chapter 7. No, there's no payment required. And for the last question...if you like. But I recommend it. To those who are following this story, I already have chapter 8 in the works, this might take time.

Chapter 2: Breaking Ice

North was currently in between two yetis, examining what appeared to be a new robot toy design drawn on paper.

Christmas was far away so for now they were currently in the creation stage. He used this time to conjure up new toy ideas that appealed to culture's current interests. Robots were something a lot of young boys (and a growing population of girls) were into recently. But movies have made robots a lot more "advanced" looking.

North knew a lot about toys but not giant flying robots that could shoot laser beams and lift cars.

He was having a bit of trouble keeping up with the world's upgrade in technology, even recently looked into the human's use of "cellphones". But why would the Guardian of Wonder need a phone when he could communicate with magic?

Nonetheless if it's advanced, technological toys the children wanted, then North would conform.

He often used both his own and the yetis' designs for toys sometimes even collaborate and combine their designs. However the design North was staring at now was not going to work.

"No, no, no, this will not do! Start over! Less pointy objects!" He ripped the paper down the middle, causing the two yetis to complain.

"Harblo harga flahba!" they both exclaimed, gesturing to the torn up design and to North back and forth.

North ignored them as he walked away from them but only halted when he felt familiar vibration underneath his feet. He stroked his beard thoughtfully before decided to follow the movement into the Globe Room. He walked into the center and stopped right where he assumed a rabbit tunnel would open before waiting.

A few seconds later, a hole appeared and Bunnymund's form shot upwards through it.

The giant rabbit-like creature yelled in surprise upon seeing North's face just a few inches from his own. "Crikey, mate! Watch where yer walkin'!"

North smiled, not taking note of his fellow guardian's annoyance. "Bunny, my friend! What brings you to de Pole?" he greeted, spreading his arms in welcome.

The Pooka stomped his foot a few times to seal up the tunnel before holding up an ice bird for North to see.

"Ahh yes…" he leaned forward to examine at the beautiful creature before him. North could see a slight blue glow from the center of the bird's body, which he recognized as Jack's magic. "Icelings he calls them?" he asked looking up to his fellow guardian.

Bunny nodded as he pulled his paw back. "The thing was flyin' around me an' tuggin' me in your direction."

North laughed mirthfully as he grinned widely. He had seen practically hundreds of Jack's ice creatures all around the world, monitoring children in locations where it wasn't in the winter season. Jack had become such a responsible and powerful guardian in such a short time, he couldn't be more proud of their protégé.

Bunny looked around the room and frowned when all he saw was North and an occasional elf or a few.

"Well, clearly ya made a mistake since Jack is nowhere in sight," he spoke to the little bird in his paw. The creature's glassy face looked around curiously then back up at the Pooka before ruffling its icy feathers.

"Oh ho! Is that disappointment I seen in your face, Bunny?" North teased, giving him a knowing smile.

Bunny shot him a glare. "Shut it." He simply huffed before looking away.

This only made the Spirit of Wonder chuckle loudly.

Bunny and Jack had gotten closer ever since the Battle in Burgess. They still liked to pick on each other sometimes in front of the other guardians, but whenever they were alone, they often have serious conversations. The Pooka quickly saw Jack as a close friend, especially when the younger guardian began visiting him in his Warren personally, just to talk or simply hang out. Eventually the boy's presence caused a warm feeling in Bunny's chest and he began noticing the little things, like how beautifully blue Jack's eyes were or the pale smoothness of his skin.

He dismissed the feeling as a ridiculous and unexpected crush, something that would only distract him from his duty as a guardian and the Easter Bunny. Besides, whenever he tried to picture himself and Jack together as a couple, it was just silly looking. They had way too many physical differences between them.

However, he still allowed himself to stare at Jack whenever they were all together. Unfortunately for him, North noticed right away. He figured it was because of North's element, wonder, and seeing all that is special or whatever…

He just thanked his stars that the man had enough decency not to that that out in front of the others.

For now…

"Perhaps this means Jack is coming for a visit," North assumed as he looked around, half expecting the boy to appear from a corner or at least the sound of his laugh.

"Nowadays, he just visited one of us personally," Bunny looked over to him as if he held all of the answers. "Is he trying to gather all of us for some reason?"

The large man shrugged before offering the Pooka a plate of cookies, which the latter quickly declined. If centuries of experience taught him something, that he should stay away from the cookies. Ninety-nine percent of the batches might be contaminated by one or some of the elves.

"Oh, good, you're already here!" A familiar voice chirped up.

North and Bunny turned around and saw Tooth flying in from one of the opened windows, accompanied with four of her mini fairies, smiling as they flew closer to them.

"Tooth! You're here as well?" North greeted her with open arms.

"Hey, Bunny, you got my message!" Bunny's ears twitched a bit at the sound of the voice that he wanted to hear, leaning back to see Jack flying in after Tooth. Instantly the ice bird flew out of the Pooka's paw and circled around the mop of pure-white hair.

He could barely contain a smile on his lips as he practically leapt on all fours to him. "There ya are, mate!" he greeted, leaning on Jack's shoulder while ruffling his white hair wildly. This caused the latter to laugh as he tried to push him away but to no avail.

"There he is!" North's voice bellowed, Jack barely had time to register the larger man walking up to him and effortlessly pulled him off his feet to give him one of his massive bear hugs. It was one of the things that Jack hadn't gotten used to yet. First time he experienced North's bear hug, he could have sworn that he hear something crack a bit.

"H-hey, North…it's been a while…" he struggled to speak out as he felt air squeezed out of his lungs. For a really big guy, he has really huge muscles that are enough to make him feel like a twig!

Luckily for him, someone came to his rescue.

"Easy now, North!" Tooth exclaimed as she zipped to their side in order to tug on their leader's arms in an attempt to loosen them. "Jack just got back from a fight, and he shouldn't-"

Bunny's ears perked up and North stopped his squeezing at this new piece of information. "A fight…?" There was a look of concern on his face as he stepped closer to North and Jack. "With who? Is he alright?!"

North's blue eyes widened at the possibility of Jack being hurt, instantly held the younger boy's lanky body away to see if he obtain any form of injury. The youngest guardian finally got the chance to breath and held his hands out in front of him, palm to be exact since his other hand held his staff.

"Whoa, whoa, I'm fine! I'm fine!" He insisted before looking around. "…Can you put me down please?"

The Guardian of Wonder complied as he gently placed him down on the ground, hearing Jack letting out a sigh of relief while dusting himself off a bit. North placed a hand to his chin as he thought over this new information.

"Who would attack a guardian?" he mused out loud. "Other than…" After a moment, North's deep blue eyes widen in horror. "Shostakovich! Pitch Black has returned!"

The elves that were present in the Globe Room all looked up before started running around in fear, bells jingling obnoxiously upon the tips of their red hat suits. Bunny and Jack both wince at the continuous noise, one of them given to the fact that he has very sensitive ears. Thankfully for them, Tooth flew forward to him and placed her hand on North's shoulder in order to calm him down.

"No, no! Pitch has not returned…" she reassured him in a soothing tone. "Everything is fine…the Nightmare King is gone for good."

The ringing finally stopped when the elves stopped themselves, much to Bunny and Jack's relief, before going back to what they were doing before. Probably janitorial and/or toy testing as usual…though Jack knew that some of them most likely to sneak off to have snack on another fresh batch of cookies that one of the yetis have made.

"Then what's this all about?" Then Bunny turned to Jack, his face looking like he was itching for a fight. "Was it that damn Leprechaun!? Did he do something to ya?!"

Ever since Jack became the newest addition to the guardians, there are some…mixed reactions from the world of supernatural, mainly from the Leprechaun that is in charge of watching over St. Patrick's Day. But that is a story for another time.

Jack smiled and shook his head. "No, it's this…" then he paused as he thought it over before speaking again. "Well, I was kinda hoping we could wait for Sandy, and then I'll explain."

"Oh, Sandy is coming?" North spoke up, his jovial smile is returning to his rosy cheeks.

As if answering his question, a few streams of golden sand suddenly materialized in the room as Sandy appeared upon a cloud of the same material with a mini tooth fairy upon his shoulder, smiling before his fellow guardians with twinkling fingers.

"Ah, you two made it alright," Tooth chirped happily as the tiny blue and green fairy flew to her side and rejoined her sisters.

Jack beamed up at the sight of the dream spirit as soon as he floated down. "Hey, Sandy!" he wasted no time flying upwards to give the oldest guardian a quick hug, which Sandy returned with a wide smile. It really had been a since they had all seen each other, and Jack's very presence just brought out the guardians' playful sides that they never knew they had. Even Bunny was easing up a bit…

Sandy hovered to the ground along with Jack, looking each and one of them expectantly as a symbol of question mark appeared on top of his head when he looked up at Jack. The white-haired boy took a deep breath and exhaled as he walked towards to the very center of the globe room.

"Ok, let me explain who I met about a few months ago…"

"Flicker?" North questioned out loud. "I have never heard such a spirit…" then he looked up to their youngest member. "And you say he control fire, yes?"

Jack nodded in response. He was on his tiptoes, perching at the top of his staff so he could look down on the other guardians who currently circled around him. It was one of the peculiar quirks of his when he joined them.

"Well, he must have just recently come into existence if none of us have ever heard of 'im." Bunny stated before looking up to Jack. "Why didn't you tell us before, mate?"

Jack looked down guiltily when the Pooka looked a bit hurt at this, thinking over on what he had to say.

"I…I didn't know that he was bad until he attacked Tooth's palace." He licked his lips a bit, vaguely feeling a bit chapped. "When I first met him, all he did was melting all my snow. But that was easy to replace, and he didn't seem at all mean about it. He just seemed…like he wanted my attention."

Jack paused for a moment as he looked at the others.

"To be honest, he kind of reminded me of myself before I became guardian."

They all nodded in understanding, feeling the twinge of guilt in the pit of their stomachs.

"So, did you become familiar with him at some point?" Tooth spoke up as she hovered before him.

"Well, we didn't talk much besides introducing ourselves…" he answered with a slight shrug. "But after he melted my snow the first time, I froze his feet to the ground on impulse. He thought it was funny though. Then he melted more, but I just made it snow again, it was like we were playing a game or something…" then a small smile played upon his lips. "It was actually kind of fun. And that went on for a few weeks."

"And then?" Bunny urged on.

Jack chewed the bottom of his lip before continuing.

"Then…one of my Icelings contacted me about a child in Canada," he went on. "So, I left to go see what was up, and Flicker followed me. But I was kind of busy with the kid so I tried to ignore him…" Then he took a deep breath and exhaled. "…And that's when he crushed one of them."

"An Iceling?" North spoke up.

Jack nodded. "A squirrel, one I had watching over a sick boy in Italy." He explained.

"And that's when things started going sour?" it sounded more of a statement than a question by the way Bunny placed it. Jack nodded again in response.

"I kind of overreacted, I had never had one of my icelings destroyed before and it has…" then he veered off as he closed his eyes shut, letting out a harsh sigh.

Tooth nodded as she let out a soft hum, knowing how he felt. Ever since the Battle in Burgess, she is not only back on the field but also keeping a close eye on her fairies, considering the fact that they were not just the extension of herself but practically her daughters. Bunny and North understood as well, the eggs needed to be on constant watch by the Sentinels and some of the elves are what is left of North's group back when he was a bandit.

"Well, after that, I attacked him. I don't think I hurt him much, I was just hoping he would go away and leave me alone." Then he sighed, scratching his head in a guilty manner. "And then he attacked Tooth's palace…"

Hearing this made Sandy cock his head to the side, the sand forming an image of a tooth with a question mark next to it materialized above his head. This was noticed by Bunny as he quickly translated it.

"Yeah…why did he attack Tooth anyway?" he spoke up. "Did he just get tired of Jack so he went to bother another guardian?"

"Oh!" Tooth suddenly gasped loudly, causing everyone to jump and Jack almost fell off of his perch, managed to regain his balance on the staff.

"What is it, Tooth?" North asked when her face lit up in realization. Did she know why Flicker was attacking her home?

"Goodness, I completely forgot to tell you, Jack!" She flew up closer to him. "The reason Flicker was there is because he wanted your memories! He demanded that I show him where they were, that's why he held Baby Tooth hostage."

Jack's blue eyes widened at this information before confusion fell over him. "What?" it was directed more to himself than to the others.

"Why would he want to see Jack's memories?" North asked, voicing out Jack's question as he tried to place the pieces together but can't seem to find the connection.

"I think I know," Bunny spoke up as he stepped into the circle. He cleared his throat a bit as the others leaned in, convinced that he has the answer to all of their questions. "Clearly this bloke has some sort of messed up obsession with Jack." If anyone could hear a bit more closely, there was a hint of jealously in his tone.

"Like…secret feelings?" North teased with a chuckle, mostly towards Bunny. The Pooka shot him a hard glare for a second then looked up at Jack, looking concerned.

"We need to keep this bloke away from you, otherwise…."

"Aaagh!" Jack suddenly cried out as he clutched his head with both hands, immediately losing balance on his staff. He would have fallen flat on the floor if it weren't for Bunny quickly jumping forward to catch him as the others gather to see if he was alright. The staff let out a loud clank against the tiles before them.

"Jack…" he spoke as he set Jack gently down on the ground. "What's the matter mate? Say, something." He didn't know what to do, Jack was breathing heavily as he clench his head tighter to the point of clawing about at his hair by the roots.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Tooth's maternal instincts went overload as she placed a gentle hand upon his arm while Sandy and North were debating on whether they should bring him to the infirmary.

Jack was still clutching his head, his eyes squeezed shut in pain but after a moment, he blinked and allowed his hand fall away. He slowly adjusted himself on his knees while Bunny watched closely.

"I'm ok," he reassured them, sounding a bit shaken. "That was just Flicker, he did it again."

"Destroyed one of your ice creatures?" It was more of a statement than a question from North.

Jack nodded before looking back towards a window. As soon as the other guardians followed his gaze, a thin streak of blue light appeared from somewhere faraway and rushed back into Jack's body. He placed a hand to his chest as soon as the blue glow faded into him before standing up, looking a bit shaken.

"Hey," Bunny spoke up in an unusually gentle tone as he stared at him with concern. "Does it…does it hurt you every time one of your creatures is destroyed?"

There was a forced smile stretching his lips as Jack nodded slightly. "Yeah, I place a piece of myself inside of them when they are created…it allows them enough power to be intelligent and stay frozen even in warm climates. But if one of them is broken, it really packs a punch." He tapped his forehead to emphasize his point.

"Bastard…" Bunny grumbled out a curse, referring more to this Flicker. Attacking Tooth AND destroying the very creatures that are literally apart of Jack…already, he didn't like this guy.

"I never knew you were taking such risks in order to watch over the children," North spoke in awe as he walked over and placed a large hand on Jack's shoulder.

The younger man looked up to him with a small but genuine smile. "It's worth it though." He replied. This made the older man smile at him with pride. Truly, this boy does deserve the rank.

"How often is this fella breakin' those Icelings of yours?" Bunny spoke up, gaining Jack's attention.

"He does it at random…" he admitted. "But he has destroyed about thirty of them so far." There was a look of barely contained unhappiness as he thought about his creatures being broken.

"And it hurts you every time he does it huh?" Jack had had a dry swallow as he nodded once more to the Pooka. "Well, that's enough information for me…alright guys, we're gonna take this bloke down." He turned to North, pointing a furry digit to him. "North, tell yer yetis to gather up some water, I'm gonna go…"

"Bunny, Bunny!" North quickly cuts him off. "We can't just go out and fight when we don't even know what we're dealing with or what the circumstances are!"

"Not to mention we should speak with the Man in the Moon before we decide on anything." Tooth added.

Sandy nodded as he pointed at the image of a tiny crescent moon above his head.

Needless to say Bunny was appalled by this, it was obvious that every time that this Flicker bloke destroyed an iceling, it hurts Jack physically. And if it had been going on this long, they had no idea how long Jack will take it. And if anything serious happened to him…well, he didn't want to think about it.

"So, we're just gonna stand here and wait for him while some fire-headed maniac is out there breaking Jack's icelings and probably finding ways to…"

He would have gone further in his rant until he noticed that everyone was turning their attention to Jack. When he looked over, he saw that Jack's just was beginning to glow bright blue. Jack also took notice and blinked in surprise.

"Oh, hang on a second…" He then placed his hand over his chest before closing his eyes, almost as if meditating.

Bunny watched as he leaned over to North. "What is he doing?"

"I think he might be talking to one of his Icelings." He suggested.

Tooth hovered over next to them, watching Jack with curiosity. "You guys know that he could do that?" Sandy gave her a silent shrug before returning his attention to the white-haired boy. First creating ice creatures that are almost an expansion of himself but he could also communicate with one of them from a long distance? He is full of surprises.

Suddenly Jack's head shot up, his eyes were wide with fear as if he had just experienced the most horrifying thing in his life.

"What is it?" the Tooth Fairy asked, sounding concerned.

Jack didn't answer, he stood there, frozen in place as the glowing in his chest faded. Bunny was getting worried at the silence, Jack was a lot of things but silent…something must be up.

"Hey, mate…you're freaking us out a bit." He spoke warily.

"I…" Jack finally spoke up, before practically gulping. "I gotta go!" He made one of the windows fly open wider with the wind before shooting himself out of it like a bullet, his body disappearing towards south almost instantly.

"Wait, Jack! What's going on?!" North yelled out as they watched him disappear.

Tooth hovered a bit higher along with her fairies, concern was evident among them. "Something must have happened." She stated, her blue and green feathers were ruffling uncomfortably to the point that they might molt.

Sandy watched, feeling worried for their youngest companion as they are and didn't know whether one of them should go after him. But even so…where was he going?

"I'll go after him," Bunny spoke up as he opened a tunnel after a few taps. "I'll see if everything is alright. If not, then I'll send a message to ya right away."

And with that he leapt down into the tunnel, the hole closing up and sprouted a flower in its place.

Until next time