Hi everyone!
Finally a new update. I am a little tired from work this week so it may not be that good of a chapter.
Have fun!
Season 4
Jack landed gracefully on the window sill of his room and silently stepped inside on the red carpet.
He just stared at a spot on the ground as he slid down the wall, his staff held tight in both hands.
Slowly, one hand released the staff and went to lightly touch his own lips. He could still feel a little tingling that was left over from his encounter with the nightmare king.
His eyes closed and he sighed, trying to remember the exact feeling, when suddenly the door to his room opened, and in stepped North with a tray full of sandwiches and two glasses of orange juice.
"I brought dinner! I hope you hungry. You need to get some flesh onto those bones Jack." -he said in a jolly voice as he closed the door behind himself, his eyes scanning the room until they landed on the huddled form under the open window.
He put the tray down on the nightstand and went over to sit next to the teen.
"Is everything okay?"
The quiet question only made Jack look down at the ground, not being able to meet the eyes of the person that was like a father figure for him.
"Yeah, I guess I am just tired. But I can't sleep.
North smiled understandingly and laid his large hand on his shoulder.
"That is why you need to eat. You must be hungry, and that's why you can't sleep!"
"I don't think…"
"Come, come! Try some, it is really good." –he said as he stood up and pulled the young one with him.
Jack reluctantly allowed himself to be pulled over by the bigger man, and pushed down onto one of the chairs that were in the room, North sitting down next to him.
Jack didn't touch any of the food but he made a grab for the orange juice at least.
The older man just watched him in silence as he took a sandwich for himself and bit into it eagerly.
"It is really good. You really should try one."
But the winter spirit remained quiet and just sipped at his cold juice.
A few minutes went by like this while North ate two more sandwiches and Jack finished half his juice.
"You don't have to tell me what is bothering you. But we are family, da? So you can tell me anything if you feel like it."
This made Jack look up into understanding blue eyes and a smile so wide that he couldn't help himself as he himself began to smile too.
"That's the spirit! No more moping alone in room, da? This room is yours to stay however long you want to. But if you want you can join me outside by the fireplace. I have a lot of interesting books on the shelves."
That got Jack a little interested. He never read a book before but he saw a lot of people do it and it made him want to experience the feeling for himself suddenly.
He hopped off his chair and put his half-finished drink back on the tray.
"Sure, let's go"
"Interested in books? That may help you in getting off naughty list, da?" –laughed North as he followed the suddenly excited spirit outside.
The living room area was large and bright from the fire that was lively dancing in the fireplace.
North went over to a large wooden door and opened it, Jack slowly going in behind him, trying to look over the shoulder of the tall man. As he looked around his eyes went wide from wonder and amazement as there were hundreds of books in the library of the North Pole.
"How come I never knew of this place before?" –asked Jack as he flew up to the top shelves not really caring that the books were all lined with dust and spider webs.
He looked at the back covers of each book but some of them were really hard to read.
North just watched from below, already going over to a shelf where his favorite books were located. He always kept them in one place to find them when he needed a good relaxing session.
Just as he pulled a thick gray book from the shelf, the winter spirit landed next to him holding 3 heavy books. But with the huge smile that was on his face it didn't seem like he minded the weight.
They both went outside again closing the door behind themselves.
Jack flew over to the smaller couch and put the books on the floor within reach.
He made himself comfortable and opened a blue book that looked older than both of them combined.
"What book did you get?"
Jack looked up as he heard the question and shrugged.
"Just a fairy tale that looked interesting I guess." –he said without giving away the title.
"Hmm…" –hummed the bigger man as he smiled and sat on the armchair across from the young spirit, both of them falling silent, as they began to read their separate books.
It was almost after an hour that North finally looked up from his story to find the young man asleep with the book laying on his stomach.
He knew that the boy was tired, and this would be the best way to make him fall asleep without having to actually sit next to the boys' bed until he would do just that.
He didn't want to leave the other, so he made himself comfortable once again and continued to read.
He looked up again as he heard a noise and suddenly his eyes met with vivid green.
"I see there is a party going on here."
"Bunny, you back early."
"Yeah, well there is..." –he paused as he looked at the huddled form of the winter spirit on the couch. –"there is not much to do at the time, so I came by for a visit."
"Mhm, I know you worried about Jack." -said North, as a huge knowing smirk made itself visible on his face.
At this Bunny turned pink, and boy was he glad that it wasn't visible under all that fur.
"Whatever makes you happy." -he muttered in a non-caring way, but the old man just laughed quietly.
They both turned to watch the boy on the couch.
"Books? Really, that was your best idea to make him fall asleep?"
"It worked did it not?"
"Well yeah, for now he seems peaceful. No nightmares yet right?"
"No, quiet and peaceful as it should be."
"That's good to hear."
The silence hung heavy in the air, as neither of them wanted to talk anymore in fear of waking up the peacefully sleeping spirit.
Bunny only sighed, as he took a book from the floor near Jacks leg that was dangling over the edge of the couch.
He looked at the title, and stared at it for a moment before coughing lightly in what seemed like embarrassment, and turned to go over to the other couch.
"Jack picked those out himself."
"Did he now?"
"Da. He said he picked fairy tale."
"Well, old friend this is anything but a fairy tale." -muttered Bunny, as he opened the book, which was an old grayish purple color.
North put his own book down in his lap, as he looked at him with a curious glance. The Easter rabbit answered him without looking up from the book.
"I-It's more of a romantic novel I would say."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Our Jack is growing up."
Bunny could only stutter, and look at the other like he had three heads or something equally as weird.
"What are you babbling about? Did you have too much eggnog again? He will never grow up. He is merely a teenager, he can't grow up anymore."
"But only in body, not in soul. Inside he is fully grown man, with same interests as everyone."
The Easter bunny only gaped more.
"How can you say that so calmly?! It's like...he is still a kid. He can't just go and be all grown up thinking of...of that stuff."
North laughed again and just shook his head.
"You are too protective."
"I-I am not...this...it's just wrong to think that he..."
"But apparently he is. Nothing we can do."
"I know that." -Bunny sighed, and looked at the white haired boy again. "It's just something I never thought about, and I have to wrap my mind around it now."
Both stayed silent after that, and that's when Jack decided to break the silence himself as he whimpered and turned his head the other side and back again, wearing a grimace.
Both North and Bunnymund jumped up from their sitting position to be at the winter spirits side.
Jack whimpered again, louder this time as his arms twitched as if they were holding his staff.
"Should we wake him up?"
"Da, that would be best idea." -said North, as he raised his hand to shake the restless figure awake.
"Wait! Look, what is that?"
They both watched as some black sand emerged from the slightly open mouth of Jack and started to swirl around in the air, before slowly covering the spirits eyes in a thin layer.
At first neither of them knew what to do, as they just gaped in horror at the sight, knowing all too well what the sand was and who it belonged to.
Bunny was the first to snap out of his trance of staring, and he wildly began to shake the boy in a panic to wake him up.
"Frostbite! Jack! Come on, wake up already!" -he shouted, and could only release a shaky breath as the sand suddenly disappeared, Jacks wild blue eyes could be seen blinking in a sleepy manner.
"Why are you shouting in my face for?" -came the annoyed voice of a slightly cranky winter spirit.
"Open your mouth! Let me see!"
Jacks eyes opened wide as his face was turned and his mouth inspected by the other guardians.
He blinked a few times in confusion and maybe a little irritation. It took a full minute before both North and Bunny were satisfied with whatever they were searching for in his mouth, and let his head go.
Jack closed his mouth and licked his lips a few times as he stared at the other two.
"I am used to this from Tooth. But from you guys, it's just weird and creepy. What was that all about anyway?"
"Jack, are you feeling okay? Headache? Weird feeling in your stomach? Dizziness or anything that is out of the ordinary?"
"No, not really. Tired, I guess and a little shaken up from the weird wake up call, but other than that, no. Why?"
"You don't remember?"
"Remember what?" Jack was really confused, and he started to feel a little nervous, as the two others looked at each other grimly.
"You were having nightmare a moment ago and there was…."
"What? A nightmare?! I-I don't remember having a nightmare. Is that why you woke me up?"
"Well, not just because of that mate. There was some…some nightmare sand coming out from your mouth."
The last part was whispered, as the older ones stared down at the spirit still sitting on the sofa.
"Come again?"
"You heard me. There was black sand coming out of your mouth. It is why we looked."
Jacks hand flew to his mouth as his eyes widened in a disbelieving fashion. He started to tremble, as he moved his tongue around in an attempt to find hints of the sand, but there was nothing.
"It seems Pitch really does have something to do with all this. This proves it. I am going to kill that bastard for messing with us! How dare he?"
"Bunny calm down. We discuss that matter later. First we need to call Sandy, see if he can find out anything. He has to check Jack."
"No! I am fine! It's okay, really I…"
"What are you talking about? How is this okay in any way?!" –asked Bunny, now with an angry undertone.
"I-I…just know okay?"
He couldn't just tell. Tell them about what happened outside just some hours ago. He didn't even fully comprehend it yet himself. He was sure he knew HOW the sand got there, but the real question is WHY didn't he notice anything. The kiss was distracting, but he was sure he would have felt if anything like that went down his throat.
"Frostbite…what are you not telling us?"
That quiet question made Jack shiver slightly, as his eyes wandered up to meet the green eyes of the large Pooka.
He only shook his head as his eyes filled with tears. North just stared at the two with a sad frown on his face, but stayed quiet.
"You wouldn't understand." –whispered Jack in a pathetic voice.
"We are a family. Of course we will understand! We care about you!"
-What did they ever do for you?! They saw through you just like all those children did! They walked through you, without a care in the world."-
"N-no I said it was okay. Just believe me." –whispered Jack as memories of loneliness and times spent alone began to fill his mind.
"Jack, please tell us so we can help you."
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP! I NEVER NEEDED YOUR HELP!"
Both older Guardians took a step back at the outburst, as the wind outside began to pick up in intensity.
Jacks blue eyes glowed, as he bowed to pick up his staff from the floor.
"I-I need to go. I'm sorry."
He said as he flew up to the skylight, and disappeared into the snowstorm.
"Something is very wrong." -said Bunny, still staring up where he last saw the upset winter spirit.
"I call the others. We go after him and find him." -replied North, and patted Bunny on the shoulder, before he went to activate the Northern Lights to get the help of the other guardians.
"Just what happened to you, Frostbite?"
Too dramatic? Yeah I know. I like it like that. XD
Feels refreshing.
Until Chapter 5