Sin with a Grin
Summary: An ancient darkness is drawing children into the forest leaving the Guardians to fight a creature that doesn't need to be believed in to exist. Sequel to Where there is a Flame.
Author Note: Soooo yeah. Update! Not a whole lot to say here other than please enjoy!
Chapter 4
"Jack mate, I want to apologize for not taking you seriously before." Bunnymund states as the youngest guardian leaps through the narrow window, landing on the hardwood floor in a crouch. Behind him the wind howls past rattling the stained glass window and filling the globe room with a bone numbing chill. Sandy creates a narrow arm and gently shuts the window as Jack stands and brushes off stray snowflakes from his sweatshirt before pulling back the hood.
"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." Jack jokes back, his voice painful and raw but a mischievous smile twisting his pale lips. Bunnymund cocks a long ear at the elemental's voice and examines the teen for any damage or injury.
"Are you alright Jack?" Tooth questions, arriving with a tray of steaming cups as her smaller fairies flutter around their mistress, chirping loudly. Jack tenses his shoulders and makes an attempt to clear his throat but stops as pain slices through the area, a wince curling his nose upward slightly. Bunnymund notices the change and quickly moves into action, grabbing the teen's narrow wrist and dragging him across the floor to an empty seat at the engraved and polished table. Jack croaks out a protest but none of the others listen, the flurry of activity and shouts for medical supplies throwing the nearby Yeti's and Elves into action. Jack gives a loud yelp as Phil removes his sweatshirt, leaving the teen unprotected from the would be helpful assault of his fellow guardians.
"Alright…no ribs are broken, shoulders are still properly aligned." Bunny begins to rattle off, his large paws moving quickly over Jack's narrow torso and chest. Tooth and her fairies come fluttering by carrying bandages, salves and what Jack can only guess is a splint. In his haste the large Pooka neglects to watch the elemental's body language. Although his tolerance of physical contact has increased marginally from when he'd first been recruited, contact without his permission still causes the youngster to react violently. Sandy, noticing the way the silver haired teen is trying to twist away from Bunny and Tooth's attempts quickly begins to signal to his fellow warriors.
"Bunnymund, Tooth, you are scaring the boy." North bellows from where he'd just entered from, his large arms bogged down with numerous rolls of parchments and books. Bunnymund looks up quickly at the larger guardian's shout and his ears droop quickly as he takes in the rigidness of Jack's pale form. Blue eyes, widened with shock stare back at him as the narrow shoulders show each rapid breath the teen takes.
"I'm sorry Jack. I just thought…." He trails off, ashamed with himself for not abiding by the strict, unspoken guidelines for dealing with the elemental. It wasn't something they had ever really spoken about but there were rules for dealing with the immortal.
"It's fine… you thought you were helping." Jack responds easily, his voice still choppy and painfully tight. Phil hands back the teen's knitted sweatshirt and undershirt which Jack snatches back and replaces quickly, settling the fabric over painfully thin chest.
"Jack, what happened to your throat?" Tooth implores, her violet eyes pleading, her wings beating rapidly as she hovers to Jack's right. The teen's eyes narrow slightly before turning his gaze back to Bunnymund.
"I met a friend of yours… Gabriel –something-or-other." He snarls, hand tensing around his staff threateningly. Bunny hisses out a curse and quickly holds his paws up in a nonthreatening manner.
"Now listen Jack. Gabriel and I are not friends." He states scathingly, annoyed that he'd forgotten to inform the young spirit of the other members of their community. Three hundred years without guidance it shouldn't have surprised anyone that the elemental guardian didn't know about the key players in their world. Jack's eyes remain narrowed and track any movement the Pooka makes, his stony expression giving no clues as to what he's thinking.
"Gabriel Gowdel?" North questions with a shocked edge to his voice.
"What is that little twit doing bothering a guardian?" Tooth demands, her annoyance plainly written on her features as the smaller fairies give a series of angry chirps and ruffle their feathers. Even Sandy makes a few vicious symbols above his head, expression sour.
"What did he want Jack?" Bunny questions gently as the teen takes in the reactions of those around him. Jack looks at the others once more before letting out a lungful of air, releasing the anger that had been rolling his stomach since his encounter with the other spirit.
"He wanted to help me with tracking down the thing in the forest. Said that it was messing with his job by killing children who aren't meant to die yet." He sums up, not wanting to bring up the fact that his mortal self wasn't destined to die when it did. He didn't want to bring up his suspicion that his drowning was not an accident.
Not now, anyway.
"He said her was a 'Patron Saint'." He finishes, casting a sideways glance over at North who is stroking his long mustache slowly.
"He wanted to help you?" North presses after a moment and Jack shrugs one narrow shoulder, uncurling his long fingers from his staff as the others sit in their respective seats.
"Made it sound more like he wanted to use me." Jack clarifies with a hard edge to his words. Early on in his existence Jack had been naïve enough to believe that he was needed and appreciated by other spirits only to be turned on and blamed, beaten and then left alone after he wasn't needed anymore.
"One thing you should know about Gowdel Jack, is that he is a conniving and scheming spirit who is only focused on his job. He is also a sticky beak and obnoxious, he's tried to use each of us in some way or another. None of us are his friends." Bunnymund explains. Jack gives a small nod and absently rubs his throat, making a painful attempt to clear it once more. Tooth coos at the teen gently and presses a steaming cup of tea into his hands with a silent demand he drink it.
"He's a good fighter." Jack remarks absently dipping a pale index finger into the steaming cup to cool the contents before sipping at it cautiously. Tooth smiles encouragingly at the teen while Sandy responds with rapid symbols above his head.
"You said it Sandy." North states and seats himself in his own chair.
"Bunny, did you see the creature?" Jack suddenly asks, his voice almost returned to normal but still tight. Tooth gives a soft hum in question and suddenly all eyes are one the Pooka, causing the warrior to scramble to get his thoughts back on course.
"Yeah, well.. no. I didn't see it. But I sensed it." He stumbles, running a paw over one long ear before recounting what happened to the others. Jack continues to sip at the cooled tea while he listens to the Pooka's tale and nods at the similarities. Bunny leans back in his chair once he'd finished and waits for any response from the others.
"So you sensed it too." Jack responds softly and the Pooka can only nod once.
"The woods felt strange, the animals went quiet and even though it was the middle of the day it might as well have been dusk." Bunny continues, the description of the sinister feel to the forest causing Tooth to give a shudder.
"What is it?" Tooth questions and finally North clears his throat, drawing the attention of his fellow guardians to where he is standing. Slipping on a pair of reading glasses the Russian begins to read from a piece of parchment, his accented words overpowering the background noise of the workshop.
"It wasn't until the end that I realized the proudest moment in my life was to come from the creation of a creature without a soul. In my quest to understand the beings that worked in conjunction with nature I ensnared many, experimented on all and only a few remained to live to a breeding age." North reads, his words causing Tooth to snarl loudly and Jack to scoot his chair away from the enraged fairy. Bunnymund moves his own chair over, allowing the immortal teen to move further away. Sandy tries to calm the enraged tooth collector but she simply shakes off the gesture.
"Through breeding the contained spirits to mortal captives I discovered it was possible to produce an offspring. Those that were allowed to survive displayed the abilities of both the immortal and mortal parents, some even looking like a human mortal. Out of the seven mortal type children two displayed the abilities and likeness of the elemental parent. When those offspring were sexually mature they were mated." North stops his narration as Tooth suddenly gives a roar, her anger barely controlled.
"How dare they do that!" she roars, wings beating at the air harshly. Jack quickly stands and skirts away from the angry tooth fairy while Bunnymund glances worriedly over at Sandy and North who are equally shocked at the outburst. Jack watches the fairy closely, his staff held loosely but ready to counter any attack.
"Why is she so angry?" Jack whispers to Bunny who cocks one long ear backward to where Jack is. The Pooka makes a few signs with his large paws, hoping Jack would understand the universal sign for 'wait' and 'later'.
"Tooth, you need to calm down." Bunny tries to reason, his words causing the female guardian to whirl around. Usually bright and cheerful violet eyes have now darkened to a deep maroon, her lips pulled back in a vicious snarl. The smaller fairies flutter around their mistress, chirping at her as she rages.
"Tooth? Tooth, you're scaring the little Tooth Fairies." Jack states softly and the maroon eyes snap to the winter spirit. The fairy seems to be coming back to herself, sanity chasing logic around in her gaze but the distraction is all Sandy needs and before the others can move the golden sand rains down on the fairy Queen. With a final snarl the usually placid and happy guardian of memories slumps downward, her wings beating slowly. Bunny moves quickly, grabbing the slight woman and placing her gently into her chair before giving the smaller man a reassuring nod.
"What the hell was that all about?" Jack suddenly asks, holding his arms up in exasperation. North purses his lips and with a glance at the others gestures for Jack to come closer while Bunny and Sandy stretch the sleeping fairy Queen out on a sofa.
"Toothiana's mother was a member of a race called the Sisters of Flight, female winged warriors of the greatest skill. Her father was a mortal hunter, renowned for his ability to track and his way of honoring the animals he hunted. Her childhood was… turbulent because of this." North explains without going into too much detail. Jack casts a look back at the sleeping fairy and simply nods and returns to his seat, curling his legs up to his chest and his hood over his head before simply waiting. North watches the reaction worriedly but doesn't remark on it as Bunny and Sandy return to the table and continues reading, with a loud clearing of his throat the Russian continues.
"The first mating yielded an offspring but the infant was killed by its parent before observation could begin properly. The second mating produced another offspring and the infant was removed to prevent the culling. Shortly after the birth and removal the female elemental was found expired in her cage and the male in bad enough condition to warrant removal from the program."
The silence lingers in the room as the master toy maker pushes onward
"The offspring displays the abilities of a winter spirit—the cold having no effect and it displays the ability to mimic ice and also shows the abilities of a nature spirit—the hide of the offspring mimicking the patterns found in nature. Although it learns basic commands issued through pain and praise I have yet to conclude if the creature is indeed intelligent or just displaying instinctual responses for survival." Bunny snarls a curse even as Jack makes a sound akin to a moan while Sandy simply shakes his golden head sadly. North gives the room a moment to collect their thoughts and refresh his parched throat with a long haul from his stein of specially mixed coco, the biting sting of the top shelf brew burning down his throat.
"A year has passed and the creature is showing human type intelligence, including being able to learn a multitude of languages and speak them clearly. The creature seems to display female attributes but I am wary of investigating further due to the increase in its violent nature. This merged elemental is constantly contained and barely handled due to my advanced age."
Bunnymund snorts harshly and picks at something on the tabletop. Jack curls up further into himself at the mention of the winter abilities while Sandy simply rubs his eyes with his hands.
"Year five, my advanced age has left me unable to attend to my creation. Assistants do not last long before its insatiable hunger brings about the death of those caregivers; their bodies found to be almost mummified with fluids removed completely. No wounds visible on the bodies. Due to the increasing danger I have ordered for the creature to be walled up behind a partition of human made stone and mixed materials. I do not know if the creature will live or die, for it is the offspring of two immortal beings and my own curiosity. I fear for the mortal world should it ever be released." North concludes softly and places the translated parchment down on the table before slumping back into his chair.
"Obviously it lived and it escaped." Bunny states, using one claw to tap on the tabletop to punctuate his words. Jack glances over at the peacefully sleeping Tooth before adding his own opinion.
"They never found the little girl who went missing from the town though."
"It could be, that when fed it only takes the fluids. I do not know when this was written but it had to have been centuries ago due to the language. Early Cyrillic letters… if it had been that hungry for so long…" he trails off with a shrug. Sandy makes several symbols over his head and North answers with his own theory.
"Perhaps the place the experiments took place in is somewhere near the town. Makes sense no?" Jack's head shoots up in alarm, the hood falling off to reveal wild silver hair sticking up from the static.
"What!?" he shouts, leaping to his feet. "We have to stop this thing! The kids of Burgess are—"
"Special to us all Jack. But we can't just go out halfcocked against this thing mate. This isn't Pitch; this is something none of us have dealt with before." Bunny interjects, moving to intercept the headstrong teen but Jack quickly spins away from the Pooka.
"We can't just let it eat its way through the town!" he shouts, a painful croak causing him to clutch at his bruised throat but the anger burning in the teen's eyes are clear.
"Bunnymund is right Jack. We cannot just approach this without plan. You have warned the children to stay away from the forests and have done all you can to protect them from places where they'd be taken. Now we use our heads and plan out a way to deal with it." North placates, bringing up the fact that Jack had ruined the sledding hills and the skating ponds, effectively cutting off the children's ability to find winter enjoyment in the forests. Jack begins to protest but the golden hand of the small dream guardian stop him and the fight leaves the winter spirit.
"Where do we begin?" Bunny asks once assured that the impulsive winter spirit wouldn't race out alone to confront the creature. North pulls out several more rolls of parchment and spreads them across the table, his words doing little to assure the others that this is a fight they can win.
Later that night the guardians finally split up after several hours of working at plans and looking at maps. Jack and Bunny had helped form a type of search area around Burgess but the team of warriors made little progress in how they were going to handle the creature. Sandy had left to perform his nightly duties while Tooth was preparing to leave as well. She wasn't upset with the others for putting her to sleep and upon waking quickly asked for everyone's forgiveness. Tooth had left the globe room to find her fairies and to prepare to head back to Asia.
"Come along girls, we have a lot of work to do." She states with a small smile as the smaller fairies flutter around, chirping happily at their mistress's return.
"No, no I am fine now." She returns to a chirped question and turns around to head back up to the upper levels of the workshop but stops short. Standing directly in front of her Jack Frost simply stares, his blue eyes lacking their usual mirth. Tooth sends the smaller fairies on without her before working up the courage to speak to the youngest spirit.
"They told you huh?" she begins sheepishly, nervousness causing her fingers to tremble slightly. She wasn't angry with North for having told the elemental about her past, knowing that it was done out of necessity but she couldn't help but feel a little annoyed to be the reason the playful spirit isn't smiling.
"My father was a farmer. My mother was a seamstress." Jack suddenly states, his words clipped and to the point. The abruptness of the admission catches the fairy off guard and before she can respond the silver haired elemental continues.
"It doesn't matter what your parents were, it only matters what they taught you to become." He finishes and promptly spins on his heel and walks away, leaving the fairy dumbstruck for a moment before she smiles softly and gives a shout for her fairies.
Author Note: I wanted the interaction between Tooth and Jack to not be awkward. I will have you know I looked up Tooth's backstory and hoped I summed it up simply enough. Anyway, thank you for reading and I will update again next weekend when I get home from work!