So sorry for my lack of updates, so I'll get right to it. I do not own Rise of the Guardians.
Jack eased open the window, slowly enough so that it didn't creak. He didn't want to alert anyone to his presence, preferring to sneak in and out to avoid interaction. It was easier that way. He didn't have to speak to anyone, or bear the looks of pity in everyone's eyes. He didn't have to guess at what reaction the Guardians would have to anything he did or be fearful that anyone was going to hurt him.
He padded softly down the hall, bare feet making hardly any noise on the wood floors. He could see a light on in the room ahead and low voices drifting through the air. One of them was definitely North, but he couldn't tell the other one as of yet. The winter spirit paused, considering going another way to get to his room, but decided against it. The voices should mask his footsteps.
However, as Jack stepped forward, he tripped over a loose floorboard, making a small scuffing sound. Recovering quickly, he tried to walk forwards as the sound of voices cut off in the room. Just before he was out of range, an Austrialian voice called out, "Jack, I was wondering when you would come in."
Unconsciously, the frost child retreated a step from the menacing figure before him. He ducked his head, not meeting Bunny's eyes. "I'm sorry for being late," he murmured, shaking slightly with fear. He wasn't supposed to be late.
A paw waved towards him and Jack retreated even more, but it didn't even go near him. The Pooka was waving him off, already talking. "You don't have a curfew, mate. I just wanted to ask you something, so I came to see if you were here."
Jack bit his lip harshly, unsure of the correct response to this, he peaked upwards, noting the forest green eyes staring down at him. Bunny's arms were crossed, exposing his muscles in a display of his strength.
"So, do you want to come have a seat?" Bunny offered.
The winter spirit nodded, following silently into the lit room. Seated already was North, drinking from a steaming mug. "Jack!" he yelled, grinning broadly. The boy he was addressing fought the urge to look behind him to see who was being called to so happily. There was certainly no one who would speak to him that way.
They all settled into their seats, North and Bunny sipping their mugs of hot chocolate. "So," Bunny began hesitantly, pausing. Then, he launched right into it, "I went around to see Jamie the other day and he wants to see you, if that's okay. I guess I'm just asking if you want to see him."
Jack's mouth dropped open in shock. Someone wanted to see him? He must be dreaming. This was all he ever dreamed about in his life before Pitch. Was he supposed to answer? Bunny had asked him a question right? He closed his mouth quickly, trying to assess what would be the right response. Blue eyes peeked up cautiously, noting the green ones staring down at him. As always, those orbs made him pause, full of steely stand-offishness.
"You don't have to Jack," North interjected, shooting a glance at the Easter Bunny. "Unless you want to, of course. It's up to you."
Those word sounded so strangely being strung together, 'it's up to you.' Without taking the time to overanalyze and rationalize, Jack made a quick decision. He slowly nodded, trying to hide his enthusiasm. Of course he wanted to meet with the child who could see him, but why on Earth would Jamie want to get together with him?
"Then that's settled," Bunny declared. "If possible, would tomorrow be okay?"
The winter spirit nodded shortly, barely considering the blizzard he had to give to Calgary, his frost animals could take care of it.
"I'll pick you up here after breakfast," the rabbit instructed, already tapping his way into a hole and jumping through. His goodbye echoed up from the empty space until it promptly closed behind him.
Jack was just rinsing off his breakfast plate when he heard footsteps behind him. He nearly flinched back from the approaching figure before analyzing the tread. It was too heavy for elves and too light for yetis or North. Concluding it was Bunny, the winter spirit turned around to find exactly who he expected.
"G'morning," the Pooka somewhat grumbled.
"Good morning Mister Bunny," Jack returned politely.
Green eyes widened slightly with surprise. "No need to be so formal, it's just Bunny." The frost child nodded in response, taking in the information. "You ready to head out?" Another nod from the suddenly nervous spirit.
They jumped through the newly created hole, Pooka in the lead. After a short jog through a grassy stretch of tunnel, they emerged through another hole, directly into Burgess. Jack breathed the familiar air, immediately taking note of his surroundings. They had emerged near the edge of the town, although only a few minutes walk from Jamie's house.
"Okay Frost," Bunny began suddenly, whirling around on Jack.
The spirit being spoken to took a slight step back, unconsciously out of arm's reach. Was it only a pretense he had been lured her for? Was one of the Guardians finally going to hurt him?
"Listen here," the Pooka continued, unaware of the raging monologue going on in the frost child's head. "I know that you aren't used to any of this and people being nice may be a little new," he put it bluntly. "I just want you to know that Jamie is eleven, he may not be the most sensitive as he doesn't know any better. But I promise ya mate that he won't mean to be cruel or hurt ya. If he asks ya a question ya don't want to answer, you don't have ta. Just tell him maybe another time. Understood?"
Jack nodded quickly, taking another step back from Bunny. The rabbit's tone had gotten a little faster and harsher as he went on. He was so unused to explaining himself and comforting others. Unfortunately, the slightly gruff words were taken as angry by a certain winter spirit, leaving him in no doubt about what would happen if he did something wrong.
"Let's go then," Bunny stated, striding off into Burgess. The frost child trailed after him, head automatically down in a gesture of submission. They arrived quickly, finding Jamie already playing outside with his sister.
"Bunny, Jack," the child called eagerly, running up to them. "Did you come to play?" He glanced back and forth hopefully between the two of them, brown eyes dancing with delight.
"Of course, ya little ankle bitter," Bunny returned warmly.
"Bunny," Sophie cried, tackling the Pooka in a hug. The two went off to play together, leaving the winter spirit alone with his first believer.
There was a moment of silence before Jamie burst in happily, "So I know we didn't get to talk a lot a few weeks ago, what with Pitch and everything. I don't even know if you know my name, I'm Jamie by the way." He bubbled the words, grinning up at the completely befuddled winter spirit.
Jack was squirming uncomfortably in his collar, fighting the urge to tug at it when his master was mentioned. He nodded at the introduction although he had already known the boy's name.
Undaunted by the winter spirit's lack of response, Jamie rushed on, "Do you want to play a game?" The older boy nodded, being led by the hand into the house and up towards Jamie's room. The contact felt foreign and warm, but not unpleasant. It brought back memories of his little sister and how she always used to tug him around.
Tugging down a box from his closet, Jamie dumped a variety of objects on his bed. Jack looked from the collection of board games to the excited boy's face.
"I have Monopoly, checkers, chess –I've always wanted to learn how to play that – backgammon, snakes and ladders," he rambled off the list.
Once he was done, Jack offered shyly, "I could teach you how to play chess.
"Could you really?"
The winter spirit moved forwards, deftly snagging the game board and organizing the pieces. The boy sat down across from him, watching those pale hands at work. As he set up, Jack explained the pieces and their functions. "The pawns are in the front row and they can move one space ahead or to the left or right towards a player of the other colour," he began softly. His eyes flickered up to meet the brown ones staring up at him. The eye contact again felt strange, but somehow right. There was only warmth and excitement in those orbs, not malice or threats.
Jack continued, explaining each piece as he set up.
"Okay," Jamie muttered, beyond confused. "So this piece moves diagonal," he said, pointing the rook.
The frost teen lightly shook his head. "Why don't we start with all of the pieces moving the same way and we can add in different functions next time we play."
Jamie nodded eagerly and they began the match. There was little conversation at first, the winter spirit still shy and uncertain. He would glance up occasionally, assessing the boy in front of him. It was all so confusing, to be seen and heard by a mortal. It was even more befuddling to not be hurt by someone who could see him. At least he had been getting some practice with the Guardians.
Suddenly, Jamie asked, "So what's your favourite colour?"
Taken aback, it took the winter spirit a moment to process the question. Then, he honestly considered it. What was his favourite colour? For so long the only colours he had seen were white black and grey. Ever since being let out of the lair, he couldn't get enough of the sun and the sky. He bit his lip for a second, "The colour of the sky," Jack finally said. Then, after a shy pause, he asked, "What is yours?"
"Orange," the boy replied easily. There was silence for a second, and then. "You can fly, right?"
Jack's eyes widened slightly at the casual tone of Jamie's voice, it was shocking. "Not really," he murmured, "I can ride the wind."
"So do you travel a lot?"
There was a brief pause before Jack nodded. He didn't used to be able to travel a lot when he was with Pitch, but he did now. So it wasn't strictly a lie.
"What's your favourite place to travel?"
"All over Canada," the winter spirit replied, a little bit easier this time.
"Why?"
"It's beautiful, and there are such different features across the country, mountains, lakes, rivers, fjords, prairies, coasts."
"What's one place you haven't visited?"
"Mexico," he answered immediately, then explained without being prompted, "It's too hot there."
There was a break in the questioning, giving Jack a chance to gather his thoughts. That was probably the longest he had spoken to someone in decades. He couldn't explain the emotions chasing themselves around his head. There was definitely happiness, but also fear that this would come to an end. He could feel a dash of wonder and curiosity as well as a pinch of hope for the future.
Their chess game had been mostly forgotten through all of the questioning. Deciding to roll with it, Jack asked, "Do you want to play 20 questions instead?"
Jamie nodded eagerly, brown eyes shining with excitement. "What are the rules?"
"We each get to ask each other questions."
"You first," the younger boy prompted.
"Where is one place you want to travel?"
"Already repeating questions," Jamie commented, sticking his tongue out. The winter spirit was shocked. It had been so long since he had seen that expression. Marshaling his features, he managed to keep his expression neutral. "Well, I want to visit South Africa. Now my turn, how old are you?"
"300 spirit years but I was only human until I was 16."
It was Jamie's turn to be shocked and his eyebrows shot upwards into his mess of hair. 'Wow' he mouthed.
Jack thought for a moment, mulling over whether or not he should ask his question. Was he allowed to? Would it be taken the wrong way? Looking over at the eager and easygoing brunette, he decided to throw caution to the wind. "What's your favourite season.
"Winter," the child shot back easily, smirking playfully. "What's your funniest memory?"
Casting his mind back, it took a pitifully long time to dredge up a relatively happy memory, let alone a funny one. However, when he was about to give up, a memory from childhood teased its way towards the front of his mind. He smiled faintly, allowing the unusual expression to spread across his lips. He did indeed feel happy, something he hadn't for a long time. "I used to be a prankster," Jack began softly, smiling wistfully. "When I was human, one day, I accidentally left a can of thick feed for the cows and a bag of feathers out and I returned to the house for a moment. When I returned, our two pigs had gotten themselves covered in the paste and feathers and were heading towards town. Everyone thought I had done it on purpose and was teaching pigs to fly or something."
Jamie cracked a smile, which turned into a full out laugh as that image processed in his mind. He was doubled over, chuckling hysterically within a few moments. Jack succumbed and joined him with a light laugh.
"I can just imagine some townsfolk running around, chasing pigs with feathers," Jamie choked out, causing them both to laugh harder. The sound of Jack's ringing laugh was foreign in his own ears. However, he decided immediately that he liked the sound.
"What's all the fuss about," a voice called. It was Bunny, standing in the doorway with Sophie right behind. Jack sobered up immediately, being brought back to reality. He stiffened slightly, causing the rabbit to look pained for a moment.
"Jack … funny story," Jamie managed to gasp out, stifling laughter.
Bunny's face softened and he questioned, "Do you two want to play something, Sophie wants us all to do something together."
"What do you think Jack, any more funny moments you can create?"
Taking the question seriously, the winter spirit thought for a moment. Time to test his theory. He held up a snowball, chucking it lightly at the brunette boy.
Jamie shrieked for a second, before screaming happily. "You're so on!"
AN: Please review, favourite, follow, comment, request.
