Firstoff, I am really truly sorry about the really long wait. I swear, this will not happen again. Basically, I'm not allowed to bring my computer with me when I go on vacation and I went to my cottage, then I was forced to go to my grandparents because my sister had a volleyball tournament. Then I had volleyball camp which was utterly exhausting and I was forced to go to my grandparents again for yet another volleyball tournament.
Secondly, if you all haven't noticed, I am not good with updating. So, to fix this I have decided that every Wednesday or Thursday I will post a new chapter. If I do not I will have a good reason and I will upload a new chapter as soon as I can. Sorry, for the super long note. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own ROTG or any of the characters except for my OCs.
The next day, Arrows woke up to the clanging of pots and pans and the muttering of her room mate downstairs. In curiosity, She flung her blankets off of herself and quickly walked downstairs. The noises became louder as she neared the kitchen.
When she entered her shared kitchen, she was welcomed to the sight of her best friend frying up eggs and bacon. "Good morning Flora." She said as she yawned and sat down at the bar.
Flora looked up at her with look of concern painted on her face. "Hey Arrows, did you have a good sleep?" Arrows shook her head as she walked over to the kitchen to grab a mug t make coffee in.
"Not well, I stayed up hoping Jack was okay." The spirit of love bit her lip as she remembered her comatose friend.
Flora nodded her head in understanding. She piled some food onto a plate and slid it across the counter to her best friend. "Here, eat this before you go see him. Your boyfriend may be in a coma, but you still have to eat." the spirit of nature smirked as Arrows' face and neck flushed as red as a rose.
"For the last time, we are not dating!" Arrows huffed and could sense that Flora was trying to keep herself from laughing. And she was failing. "Are you done laughing now?" She hissed through her teeth, her face still red.
Flora took a deep breath to get control of herself and rolled her eyes. "Arrows, he might as well be with how much time you spend together and act around each other. Even the other spirits talk about you two. A lot of them think that you two like each other." She chuckled as she remembered what one of them said. "Toothiana actually thinks that you two are dating and you're just keeping it a secret." It was Arrows turn to roll her eyes. She bit into a piece of bacon and smiled. No matter how annoyed with her friend right now, she was still one hell of a cook.
She cleaned her plate and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Whatever." She checked the time on a clock shaped like a cat on the wall and her eyes widened. It was already noon. "How'd it get so late?! I gotta go Flora, thanks for the food!" And with that the spirit of love sprinted out the door and flew into the sky on the way to North's.
-line break-
By the time North's workshop came into view, all of Arrows' fears had risen. What if his heart stopped again? What if he forgets me? What if he loses his powers? Voices whispered in her mind. "Stop, no, he's going to be fine. He's going to be fine." She mumbled to herself as she shook her head as if to clear it of the poisonous thoughts. Jack was alright. She had seen his heart start again with her very own eyes. He couldn't have died again.
Her thoughts of Jack distracted her from her flight and more importantly, the ground that she was about to hit. Arrows found it safe to say that it was the most graceful face plant she ever made. She cursed as she stood, dusting herself off and wiping the snow from her face.
She walked to the big double doors of the workshop, grasped the grand brass knocker shaped like a wreath and banged it against the door three times. A few moments later, Phil the Yeti opened the door and sighed when he saw it was her. He mumbled something in russian and pointed towards the infirmary.
Without a second to lose, Arrows sprinted around corners and swerved around passing yetis until she came to a stop at the infirmary's door. She pushed it open and rushed across the room to Jack's bed. Luckily, his heart was still beating. A shining smile lit up Arrows' face as she brushed some of Jack's hair out of his eyes.
She nearly jumped out of her own skin when his eyes flew open and he lashed out at her.
He started fighting the air and yelling when he didn't recognize his surroundings. His eyes focused on Arrows – who was currently holding her hands up in defence a few feet away – and visibly relaxed. He put a hand on his fore head and sighed before sitting up. He groaned at the effort and fell into his pillow.
His eyebrows knit together in confusion and he turned his intricate blue eyes to look at her again. "Arrows," he said softly. "Where am I?"
His eyes widened when a dazzling smile fell upon her lips and he didn't even have a second to prepare himself before she was hugging him with her head buried in his chest. After a moment, he hugged her back and began rubbing light circles on her back in a soothing fashion.
Arrows took a deep breath and sat up on the bed beside Jack, with her face still lit up with a smile. "Its okay, your in the infirmary." Her face fell into a worried expression. "How do you feel?"
Jack looked around the room as if to check if Arrows was correct and he was in the infirmary. He shook his head and looked her straight in the eye. "I actually feel fine, had a nice long rest." His eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Wait, was I out for that long? 'Cause you seemed pretty worried about me considering how you launched yourself at me when I woke up." Arrows blushed at his comment.
"Ya, you were out for about a day." Jack's eyebrows shot up in alarm and Arrows put her hands out as if to calm him. "But it makes sense that you fell asleep considering you died." Oh crap, that was the wrong thing to say. Jack's eyes widened in alarm and he shot out of bed. He started poking himself in the arms and stomach and head to see if he were actually there. When he seemed satisfied with the result, he turned back to Arrows with an accusing glare.
"What do you mean I was dead?" His tone was even, but Arrows could tell he was hiding his nervousness.
"Well, you see -"
"Don't beat around the bush, tell me what happened to me exactly and why I died." Jack cut her off. Arrows sighed and motioned for Jack to sit down on the bed beside her.
And so, she told him everything from when he died a second time to where they were now (except she kept out the awkward conversations about him with Flora, her dream and how he was whispering her name in his sleep.)
He contemplated the story for a minute or so before standing up and walking around the room back and forth. "So, Mors killed me? And somehow I came back to life?" Arrows nodded her head in confirmation. "Did anyone catch her or see where she could of possibly gone?" Arrows shook her head. Jack sighed and rubbed his temple.
He stopped in front of her and stooped down to look her in the eye. "I remember before I blacked out that she said she knew you. How does she know you?" Arrows sighed again and put her head in her hands just as old thoughts resurfaced. But she couldn't tell Jack her suspicions until they were confirmed. So instead, she just shrugged and rustled her hair in a distressed fashion. She drew her hands away from her head in surrender.
"That's the thing, I don't really know. I don't remember ever meeting her as a spirit, and I don't remember my old life at all." She threw her head back and groaned in defeat. "This all just doesn't make sense!" Jack sighed and sat down beside her. Tentatively, he took her hand in his and looked towards her.
"We'll figure it out, don't worry. We can talk to North if you would like. Or we can talk to Tooth and see if we could get your memories from your past life." Jack offered and Arrows smiled at her friend.
"I would love that." Her face darkened as if a shadow had passed across it. "But, I already tried to get my memories back but she doesn't have them. She said someone either stole them or for some reason they were never collected." Jack looked at her with a look of pity but she threw a false smile onto her face and looked her friend in the eye with false happiness.
"But hey, what are you gonna do? These things happen, you don't have to pity me." Jack nodded his head in understanding.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, with their hands still entwined. The moment was broken when the door suddenly flew open and North entered the room. The pair jumped and split apart as fast as a startled cheetah.
North looked at them suspiciously when he saw them sitting beside each other on the bed, but he figured that he hadn't interrupted anything. He smiled at Jack and threw his arms around the skinny spirit of winter. Jack was taken by surprise at the act and let out a little squeal when North lifted him off the ground and swung him around in joy.
"Oh my boy, you are alive! All of us were scared sick for you!" He shouted as he placed Jack down and threw his hands up in celebration. He shouted something in a foreign language (Arrows guessed Russian) and let out a booming laugh as he clapped his large hands.
His eyes widened and his smile grew two sizes (Which seemed barely even possible.) "We must have celebration for your victory of getting well again! A feast is in order! No, a ball!"
"A ball? But what about Mors? We should be looking for her, shouldn't we?" Arrows questioned. If they were going into war, shouldn't they be preparing themselves?
North waved his hand as if to wave away the question. "Psh, Mors can wait but a bit longer, can she not? And, what better time to celebrate then when we might not get another chance?" Arrows nodded her head in understanding. He did make a good point, they might not get another chance, so they should celebrate while they still could.
"Okay so there's going to be a ball? When exactly is this going to be and do I need to get dressed up like a circus monkey?" Jack asked with a bored tone of voice. He never really cared for dances, but he figured he would have to go considering it was all for his survival.
Arrows looked at him as if he grew a second head and chuckled. "Of course you need to get dressed up, it's a ball. A ball isn't a ball without people making fools of themselves by wearing ridiculous outfits." Jack pouted and blew air up to move his hair out of his eyes.
He huffed and crossed his arms. "Okay but, a: I don't know how to dance, and b: I don't have a suit." North thought about the problem for a second before smiling.
"Those things are just small problems, they can be solved simply." Arrows and Jack looked at North, silently asking him for further explanation. "I can have yetis make clothes for you. And for your dancing problem, Arrows will teach you." The pair of young spirits looked at him with wide eyes and open mouths.
"What?!" They cried in unison.
"What? I see no problem with a friend teaching another friend how to dance." He narrowed his eyes at the two. "There isn't a problem with that, correct?"
Arrows huffed and figured it would be better to agree than to argue. "No, there isn't a problem. I'll teach him to dance so he'll be ready for the dance." She paused and looked North straight in the eye. "But if he still sucks it isn't my fault, I'm just teaching him the basics. How long do I have to teach him?"
North looked at her confused. "Well, if the ball is being held tonight, then you have all day."
"A day?!" Arrows looked at him in astonishment. He couldn't be serious. But of course, he was.
"Yes, a day. By the ball tonight, he must be ready to dance." He chuckled at the distressed look on the spirit of love's face. "I suggest you start the lessons as soon as possible. Have fun!" And with that he left the two in shock.
Arrows turned to Jack with a venomous look. "You better not suck too badly, or else I'll have to put an enchantment on you for you to be able to dance well."
Jack simply laughed at her comment and walked to the door. "I'll try not so suck that much. But North's right, you should start teaching me soon, or else at the ball I'll dance as well as a monkey with a fake leg, 'cause that's about how well I can dance now."
Arrows groaned and marched over to the door. She turned to look at Jack, who was lounging on the bed again. "Are you planning on coming or am I gonna have to drag you with me to the Cottage?"
Jack leaped up and followed Arrows outside. As soon as Jack felt the icy wind nip at his pale skin, he sighed with relief. The infirmary room was quite hot, and he felt that if he stayed in there much longer he would've melted and some poor yeti would have to mop up the puddle of Jack.
He breathed in the refreshing air and turned to look at Arrows (who was currently glaring at nothing) with a mischievous smirk on his face. "Race ya to the cottage!" He called to her as he commanded the winds to carry him as fast as they could.
"Hey no fair, you got a head start!" He heard Arrows call with the acid in her voice replaced with laughter.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad learning to dance with his friend teaching him. Maybe, just maybe, he would actually enjoy this.
Thank you for reading and feel free to review!