"How feeling Bunny?" North turned to Bunny, slight concern in his voice.
Bunny hopped from foot to foot, "more believed in than ever." The pooka turned to Amber, "Thank-" Bunny stopped dead when he saw her feet and arms were slowly disintergrating into silver and purple blossom. "Don't go now!" He tried to grab her elbow but instead he was gifted with a handful of blossom.
Her eyes turned to him, full of sadness, "I'm sorry, it's part of the job description for being me. I can't get any emotional attachments due to being summoned to someone else before anyone truly gets to know me. It was nice."
"Please don't go." Bunny looked at the ground when he heard his own childish words.
She gave him a small smile. "Maybe I'm being summoned somewhere, where I'll be able to see you again."
North walked over placing a hand on Bunny's shoulder, "Bring back Sandy. If you're going somewhere to help."
"I pro-" the spirit was cut off, only a blossom covered baby cherry tree was left in here wake.
Pitch beat Jack bloody.
He didn't stop when the other cried; he didn't stop when the other screwed; he only stopped when Jack's body ceased it's moving, save short, jagged breathes.
Jack's restless sliver was short lived as he was slowly brought to by a warm breeze. Since Jack was a spirit of winter and all things chilly, so in a general sense, he wouldn't go running to anything warm with arms wide, but somehow this breeze was comforting. Quickly the winds picked up, going from a vaguely pleasant warm to uncomfortably hot, then back down to warm. Due to the spirit's weak state he got pulled along with the stronger gusts; when the winds finally slowed Jack lay at the feet of a girl a similar age to him.
"Oh my," She jumped back, then knelt beside him, "Manny, why didn't you send me earlier? Colourful eggs barely account for a bloody albino boy in a black pit with no roof." The girl's silky voice made Jack recoil.
"Too similar. Too similar." His face contorted in fear.
"Shh, shh. It'll be okay." Amber gently stroked him ash white hair, it was velvety even it's matted state. Her charcoal hair spilled over Jack's face, making his already shockingly pale skin come out an even colder contrast.
"Well…
'Well…
'Well…" The owner of the voice let his words hang in the air. "Look who's come running back."
"Don't patronise me Pitch! Show yourself. Or are you too scared."
"I'm not scared, and I'm not an imbecile. I know that you've grown stronger, but I did not expect you to team up with the Guardians and their idiotic sidekick."
"What did you expect! A certain someone sold my soul to a certain someone. Who created the Guardians."
"Okay. But you still fear me I can sense it. And so does little Jackie here."
Jack whimpered at that. Immediately cursing himself for doing so.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM? YOU PEASANT."
"Now, now don't throw your toys out the pram."
"Don't torture innocent spirits."
"Don't turn your back on family."
"Don't be hypocrite."
"Don't be rude."
"We've already covered this one but I don't think you got the message. Don't. Be. A. Hypocrite."
"Don't lower your defence."
With the little warning Amber was thrown into the jagged wall behind them; a rock that stood out from the rest pierced her back.
Paralised the spirit of freedom fell to the floor - unable to pick herself up. Tears welled up in her eyes, she'd lost a battle only just beginning.
"Go on, cry. I dare you. I can see the tears. Not to mention the fear rippling off you."
"Die in hole."
"What like you're about to?"
A pair of crystal eyes followed a shadow a shade darker than the rest. He was alone.
'Why does it always lead back to this?' The pessimistic part of the predominately positive sprite's mind took over.
Then he heard it. A single heartfelt sob.
"Hello?" His vocal chords just managed to grind out, painfully.
No one answered and the sobbing ceased but he heard rustling.
"Please. Please, don't go. I don't want to be alone, again."
Silence.
"Please come here."
Silence. Then a sad laugh broke the silence, "you're going to have to come here." A familiar clearly holding back tears monotony told him.
"Why?"
"Pitch... Pitch mashed up my spine." An unmistakeable sob echoed through the room, ripping at Jack. It was filled with so much sadness and anger causing Jack to stay silent, his words stolen from his mouth.
Then slowly the winter boy shuffled towards the voice. Jack came to a slim girl with elegant features.
She had smooth cheekbones, full red lips and long thick eyelashes. But those eyes, oh those eyes, they were a dark, dark blue that held so much wonder, so much knowledge, so much happiness, so much innocence, so much hope, so much passion. Just so much... But there were other things, thinks she'd learnt to hide. Emotions everyone had told her she could not feel. Emotions that filled her with numbness. Emotions hidden by others.
When people looked at her they saw a beautiful child who didn't know how to act, so she hid. Hid from responsibility, hid from growing older, hid from humanity. When Jack looked at her he saw nothing. He saw a girl who was, yes, painfully pretty; but didn't want to be. He saw a girl who'd lost everything she was so she didn't. Just didn't.
"Who are you?"
"Your worst nightmare." She answered sarcastically.
"No, WHO are you?"
She frowned, "What? Well, I'm Mother Nature but no one cares about that, they only care about me if I make all their problems disappear."
"Who are you?"
"Dude, you're weird."
"What's you centre? You're eyes. They are filled with so much but yet you seem so hollow and hateful of emotions."
"Seriously dude, you are weird. Normally conversations start with 'hello' or 'woah, how did you do that wind thing it was soo cool.'"
"Jack Frost." He stuck a hand out.
Shaking it she added, "I know, spirit of winter and Guardian-to-be with a centre of- wait can't say that yet."
"And why not?"
"Spoilers."
Jack pouted, "But you can make allowances right, for me?"
"Nah."
"Why?"
"CBA."
"Well, that's just mean."
"Soz." She shrugged.
Jack leant back, with one hand he grabbed air but then slowly released, "So. You can see into the future. That's cool and all, but what does it have to do with nature?"
"Nature evolves, evolves for survival, evolves for ease, constantly changing, constantly learning."
"And explains my question, how?"
"I spent twenty studying Grandfather Time's power, it seemed useful. So now, most of the time, I can read people's past, be in their present and hear versions of their future."
"Okay, that's cool?"
"Yes it is." Amber sounded slightly annoyed and slightly amused by Jack in general.
"So how'd you get here?" Jack changed subject before he actually annoyed her.
"Summoned." Amber would've left her explanation at that but Jack blank expression told her it wasn't enough. "Manny sends me to needy people to help them out. Like you for instance."
"Hey! Anyway you didn't exactly help me out. You made Pitch angrier."
"He's not angry, he's jealous."
"You know this how?"
"Three hundred years of trying to get me here to no avail and then with a nod of Manny's head I'm here. Just give him some time to lower happiness for a brief amount of time and he'll be doughy."
Jack raised a sceptical eyebrow. To which Amber just shrugged.
"Jack!" A familiar voice called.
He jumped, "that voice..."
The Spirit of Winter turned to Amber for an explanation but she had her eyes fixated on Jack's stomach. Slowly, cautiously he looked down. The pocket on his hoodie was glowing gold. Jack jumped back, then remembered.
"My memory box!"
"What?"
"Tooth gave me this so I could remember my past." Jack told her as if it was obvious.
"Oh yeah, of course, how did I not realise that(!)" She replied sarcasm filling every syllable to bursting point.
Jack ignored the sarcastic comment, "Do you know how these work?"
"Put you hand in the middle."
Amber's cobalt eyes watched Jack's sea blue ones pale with wonder. His pale hand rested in the middle, eyes now closed. The sprite's body went limp, in a comatose like state.
Amber's upper body tried to wriggle from under him, but stopped abruptly when her whole body filled with flames of pain.
Amber decided to call on her powers derived from Grandfather Time and look into Jack's future. She placed two long fingers on the other's emotion-void face - one finger over each eye. With a flash of silver light Amber's body joined Jack's on the hard black floor.