He staggered a few times on the way up, still not quite sure of what he was doing with regard to the wind. It wasn't a control, but neither was he helpless, the wind wound around him and swirled inside him; answering his wishes, yet acting on its own. It was a give-and-take that was exhilarating and impossible to put into words.
He stopped when he could see the forest spread out underneath him, gleaming white and silver in the bright moonlight. He allowed a grin to spread as he admired his handiwork, frost and snow coating every branch. He'd been practicing doing larger areas, re-coating the ground in spreading sections and summoning storms. For tonight he had dispelled the clouds, leaving the moonlight to turn his work into a gleaming winter wonderland.
A disturbance in the even coat caught his eye and the grin widened as he swooped down in a manner more staggered than he would have liked. He flew over the forest, practicing winding, then fell through the tree-tops to settle among the wolves. He skimmed over the ground in the middle of the pack, watching their formation stagger for a moment as he dropped into it. One of them leapt at him and Jack didn't move, resigning himself to the animal going straight through him, like everything else had.
Pain exploded through his arm as sharp teeth sunk in and he lost the wind, tumbling to the ground head over heels in an explosion of snow and furry bodies.
After a few rotations, he came to a stop in the snow. The boy staggered to his senses, cradling the wounded arm close and looked up to come face to face with the head wolf. He was big, gray coat striped in paler patterns, teeth bared at the white-haired boy. A growl built low in his throat, a warning and precursor to another attack.
Jack bared his teeth and growled back with all the anger and savagery that came with being ignored and alone and in pain. The wolf's ears perked up and his hackles went down, perhaps recognizing a fellow wild creature.
Another wolf crowded in from the side, sniffing him suspiciously. She was smaller than the alpha male, paler than him, with brown freckled through her coat. She didn't quite touch him and the rest of the pack circled, waiting at a careful distance to see what their alphas made of this strange creature who had dropped in their midst who looked and dressed like a human but didn't behave like one.
Jack's eyes watered as it sunk in that they really could see him, that it hadn't been some weird accident that he was attacked. When the wolf at his side overcame her anxiety and licked the wound on his arm in something like apology, he buried the fingers of his free hand in the fur of her side, glorying in the presence of another living thing.
She snapped sternly at him, making him retract his fingers and hold very still so she could finish cleaning the wound on his arm. When she was satisfied, she curled up against him, lending silent support and Jack was free to brush a hand over her fur, marveling at the soft roughness.
A low, lazy growl escaped her. He took that to mean go to sleep and obliged, uninjured arm draped across the fur while she kept watch.
She was still there in the morning, and for the first time since he'd woken up with nothing but his name, Jack Frost was happy.
The song Bunny was singing in the last chapter was called "Dream a Little Dream of me". I prefer the version by Mama Cass, but Michael Buble sang one as well.
I award both bedstories and Ithilas a cookie for reviewing. And, by the way, I do take requests.