Chapter Four

Sandy, figuring it would be easier to talk in American Sign Language, signed, 'So why did you stay away for the whole week instead of coming back to talk with us?'

Jack sighed, "I thought that you guys were mad at me. Also I needed at least a day to calm down and sort some things out."

'We weren't mad at you. In fact we were mostly mad at Bunny for yelling insults at you.' Sandy replied.

"Oh. I bet Tooth gave him an earful for that. But when did you guys start looking for me?" Jack asked with a slight chuckle.

'Only this morning. We wanted to start looking for you right away but we were sure you needed your space.'

Jack gave him a grateful smile and caught a penguin as it almost fell to its death off the cliff, "Thanks. Your right. If you guys had come after right away then you guys would be ice cubes for all eternity in Antarctica."

'Why what happened?' Sandy asked, concerned.

Jack looked embarrassed, "Oh, um, nothing of importance." he said quickly.

The wind that danced around him quickened and Sandy simply looked at him.

"Alright, fine!" he exclaimed putting his hands up in surrender, "I basically let all my bad feelings out which made a huge blizzard. Usually I just bottle up all my feelings and never let them escape. But I heard you have to let them out sometime and I guess now was the time for me. It's the first time I've done that in 300 years so it destroyed most of the area."

Wind hugged him in reassurance, "Thanks Wind." Jack said thankfully. In response she ruffled his hair.

'How can you understand the wind?' Sandy inquired after observing their exchange.

"You know I don't really know the answer to that. Since I was reborn I have always been able to hear her. Even when I was human I used to lay down and listen to the wind. I guess we've just always had a special connection." he responded with a soft smile.

Sandy shifted so that he was propped up on his arms comfortably. This time he wrote out the question in dreamsand words, 'So you can only spend four days a year with your elemental family right?'

The split second after he had finished writing it Jack answered, "Yep. On the solstices and the equinoxes we gather in Mother Nature's domain and just spend the whole day together."

'Whoa! How did you learn to read so fast? I know for a fact that in colonial times not many humans had the resources to learn.' Sandy asked, taken aback be Jack's speedy answer.

"Oh I had a lot of free time when I was not taking care of winter so sometimes I sat in on school lessons. I learned a lot that way. Math, Language Arts, History, Science, and lots of other subject as well. I really liked art. Especially when they made paper snowflakes." he said with a silly smile.

'I wonder why.' Sandy wrote out with his own little sarcastic smile. 'Anyways, what happened if you met the other Spirits of the Seasons on other days?' Sandy continued writing out.

Jack observed the penguins spread out on the hills for a second in thought, "Well if it was only for a few minutes we could talk but not touch. If we spent anymore time then that with each other or we touched we could seriously start to hurt one another. Sunburns, heat stroke, fevers, frostbite, hypothermia, wind burn, thirst, stuff like that."

Sandy was a bit startled, 'I didn't know it was that serious.'

"Yeah. But that only happened a few times, thankfully." Jack replied. "What about you guys? Well, not about the injury stuff but how many times a year do you meet?"

Sandy face turned a bit sour, 'Well we are supposed to meet once every month but the others often forget and I am left waiting for them at wherever we are meeting.'

Jack nodded in understanding, "That sucks. Where do you guys meet though? The Workshop has the globe and Manny can talk to you their so I would think that but..." he trailed off with a hint of bitterness about the moon.

'The North Pole is the place we usually meet at although sometimes we change it up. His is the one with the most hospitality, I guess. Meaning he has chairs that are big enough for all of us and that won't make you fall asleep.'

Jack chuckled, "Well that's defiantly a plus."

'I have another question that is not so serious.' Sandy stated, 'But when you touch the dreamsand dolphins form and when we passed by a pod you flew down to play with them. I just wondered why you liked them so much.'

"Oh, well I guess it's because of my center. You know, Fun? Dolphins are kind of the animal that your mind goes to when you think of fun. They represent fun. I play with them a lot so I supposed that's why your dreamsand reacts that way." Jack replied.

'That makes a lot of sense now that I think about it.' Sandy mused, 'Why do you call yourself The Spirit of Winter instead if a Winter Spirit like others I've met?'

Jack's voice and relaxed expression turned the slightest bit hard, "That is because although there are many Winter Spirits and sprites, I am the Spirit of Winter. They all answer to me because they only oversees small parts of the season. A pond, or a forest, things like that."

Sandy nodded in thought, 'The other seasons are like that too?'

Jack nodded.

Out of the blue, Sandy asked, 'Why don't you wear any shoes?'

"I've tried wearing shoes but whenever I do it just feels wrong. It almost feels as if they cut off my connection with nature. I like to feel the ground beneath me. Like when I wiggle my toes into snow, grass, or sand.

'So no elemental wear shoes.' Sandy concluded.

"Actually I have seen some of them wearing sandals, slippers, and sometimes even thin boots. But they are all usually as thin as possible." Jack replied.

Then Jack brightened, "Hey Sandy, I was wondering something. I've seen the Workshop, the Tooth Palace, and the Warren but I've never seen your Castle, only heard about it. I was wondering if I could stop by sometime and have a quick look around?" he asked hesitantly.

Sandy clapped his hands excitedly, 'How about right now?'

"Really?!"

Sandy nodded and then watched as Jack did a loop in the air whooping with joy. Wind also blew around them in an excited manner. Sandy got up to hover in the air and wait as the boy bid farewell to his penguin friends. Then the threesome soared off the cliff and head east once again.

Back at the North Pole, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny were looking unusually somber. They had entered the Workshop to hopeful faces only to watch them fall as the Yetis, Elves, Fairies, and Eggs all realized that they had not only failed to find their youngest member but had also lost their eldest.

Sure the Winter Spirit could be a handful at times in the Workshop but he always made up for it and even helped test some of the toys out for the Yetis. After all he was still a child at heart and they all cared for him.

The Elves were usually seen as not too bright, annoying, and troublesome but they knew that something sad was going on and that it had something to do with their favorite playmate.

All the Fairies were concerned and many of them had started looking right away despite their queen's orders. Baby Tooth was especially worried, none of her sisters could find Jack and now even the Guardians were stumped.

Eggs both big and small were somber and even though they were often the target of the boy's pranks, they still missed him greatly.

Overall the mood at the North Pole was very gloomy that night. The shadowy hallways, and deep, unforgiving silence, of course, didn't help.

Although the Guardians were tired, and discouraged they kept making a plan of action.

They decided that they would get up extra early to start asking around the world for any news about Jack.

North would ask the Leprechaun.

Tooth would ask Cupid.

And Bunny would ask the Groundhog.

After a meal of the Guardians picking at their food they all retired to their farmiliar places around the fire. The three of them all thought about what they were going to say tomorrow as they sat around the fire.

But mostly...they only thought about Jack.