Hey everyone!
So, this was inspired by the name of a humorous oneshot (I think it was a oneshot oO) called "war paint". While it was humor based, the title still gave me this idea! Yay!
This is just a sweet little oneshot that I may or may not add a second part onto at a later time! We'll have to see though XD
As always, thanks for all the reviews, favs, follows and PMs! As always, it is appreciated, and if you have any ideas for future oneshots/short series's, please share!
Sorry for any spelling errors!
Disclaimer on my prof.!
Enjoy reading!
Ever since he had moved into Bunny's Warren, Jack often found himself exploring the underground haven, armed with nothing more than his staff and childish curiosity. One thing that the teen had been delighted to find out was that he could always find something new in the den and surrounding area, whether it be a new room hidden deep in the tunnels or a grove among the ancient, crumbling walls and trees.
And so that was how Jack had found himself where he was now, drifting along the hall-like tunnels of the den, his bright eyes dancing in the dim lights of the lanterns that lit the corridor.
He remembered this tunnel, it was part of the 'storage area', the rooms where he stored brushes and other painting supplies, along with the occasional sentimental trinket.
Finally picking a room at random, Jack pushed aside the tapestry covering the entryway, feet touching down before he stepped in.
The room was dimly lit, but the young Guardian could still see without much trouble at all. The room was mostly filled with crates, too heavy lidded for him to open on his own, and he'd made it a general rule that if he couldn't open something on his own, then he wouldn't attempt to open it at all, with the wind or otherwise (he may be a troublemaker, but he had morals and a concept of others' privacy). So, he settled for peeking behind the many crates, pure hair a stark contrast to against the dim room.
Sighing to himself, Jack turned, deciding that nothing in this room was worth sticking around for and starting for the entryway-
A startled yelp passed through Jack's lips when he tripped over something. Tumbling to the ground, the Winter teen groaned, rubbing his aching head.
"Agh, ow, jeez..." Frowning, he propped himself up. "What the...?"
Looking back, the teen was surprised to find he'd tripped over...A clay pot?
Intrigued, Jack crawled over to the oven-baked clay, pausing when his fingers touched something wet. He lifted his hand, finding his pale fingers stained with...Paint?
But it wasn't like the paint that Bunny used on his googies, it was too thick and almost paste-like in texture.
Eyes lighting up with excitement at this new found curiosity, rubbing the paint between his fingers. He frowned momentarily when he realized he might be in trouble for spilling the contents of the pot, but then relaxed when he found that there were several other brown, lidded pots. He moved to them, carefully peeking into each one, delighted to find more paint of different colors that varied from bright red to deep blue.
Pale fingers dipped delicately into the blue before being drawn back, and Jack stared at his fingers, wondering over the texture and hue (as always, it was the little things that the young spirit delighted in). Trying to wipe the paint off on his hoodie, Jack found the paint already hardened into a stiff, almost clay like coat.
As he examined the now dry paint, the boy never noticed a second presence in the room.
"Little early t' be explorin', ain' it?"
Jack yelped, giving a start and nearly dropping the old pot in his hands. The boy quickly turned, eyes wide in surprise.
Behind him stood Bunny, the Pooka looking rather amused where he stood with his arms crossed over his broad, furry chest, leaned against a wall. Straightening, Aster moved forward, settling on his haunches to inspect the spilled contents of the jar that Jack had tripped over previously. Something akin to pain flashed momentarily through his eyes, but was quickly shoved away.
"I see ya found some of my old Pookan warpaint." He commented, carefully picking up the toppled jar. "Ya gotta be more careful, Frostbite. If this'd broken, ya could've gotten cut up on th' pieces."
Jack's eyes lit up at the realization of this paint being used by the Pookan race.
"Really? It's war paint?"
Bunny nodded, setting the pot back down before scratching at the dried paint on the ground with a claw.
"Yeah. Forgot this was back 'ere..."
It was odd, Aster mused, how speaking and thinking about his kind, even seeing the few remains of his past...was so much easier with Jack, for some reason. Had it been North prying into these jars, even Tooth or Sandy, Bunny would've been mad or felt the beginning of depression take root in his chest at the memories these old clay pots brought to mind.
Yet not with Jack. Never with Jack.
Maybe it was because having such a child-like presence was soothing, or maybe it was the wide-eyed curiosity that the boy always expressed towards the Pookan race rather than the pity that all other immortals expressed. Or maybe...maybe it was because the excitable, high-energy, bright-eyed Winter child reminded him so much of a kit. And instinct dictated that kits had to learn, even if the 'kit' in question was a three-hundred-year-old immortal trapped forever in a teenage body and mindset. That seemed the most likely explanation and-
Bunny was startled from his thoughts when he felt something smeared on his cheek.
Had the little bugger just...?
Yeah, he had. The little show pony had just smudged some of the thick warpaint across the fur on his right cheek.
Aster gave Jack a disapproving look, but the teen only grinned, the ever familiar mischievousness sparkling in his eyes.
"Oh ha ha." Bunny grumbled, expression deadpan.
Jack laughed, trying to hide it behind his hand. But the amusement quickly vanished, replaced with interest as the boy held the pot in his hands up to Bunny.
"Show me how it works!"
The Pooka blinked owlishly.
"What?"
"Put some of it on! I want to see what it looks like!" At the hesitance on Bunny's face, he added, "Please?"
Bunnymund's thoughts of resistance quickly crumbled away as Jack used his best weapon: the kicked puppy eyes. Aster groaned, head rolling back in exasperation.
"Fer th' love of- Fine! Jus' stop it with th' face!"
The teen simply offered an impish grin.
With a sigh, Bunny took the clay jar from the boy and grabbed a few others as well, removing the lids of each.
"Alrigh', each color's got meanin' behind it. Red fer rage in th' heat o' battle, blue fer tranquility, green t' bond us t' th' ground, an' yellow t' bond us t' the sky an' sun."
Jack watched as Bunny applied each color as he spoke. Red was used to outline the outside of the crown-like marking on Aster's head, and blue lined the inside of the mark.
"Ya see, its gotta be balanced out. Bein' a warrior 'n battle, its all 'bout balance."
Green lined the inside of the crown marks on each of the Pooka's arms, and yellow lined the outside of each. The marks above the 'crowns' were also lined with yellow, while the marks below each crown marking were highlighted with green.
"There." Bunny rubbed the drying paint from his paws. "This' jus' simple markin's fer battle. Left room fer artistic freedom, though. An' I didn' add my clan markin's either."
Jack's eyes lit up.
"You mean you can do all sorts of different stuff with it?"
Bunny nodded, letting the young spirit lean forwards and touch the quickly drying paint on his arm.
"Yeah, 'course. Like I said, these're jus' real simple battle marks. Left room fer creativity, no two people 're alike, an' so neither were their markin's. Wasn' jus' fer battle, either. We used paint fer celebrations, tellin' who was from what clan, even rituals like introducin' a new member int' th' clan an' adoption."
A flash of curious blue orbs.
"What about for fun?"
Bunny's expression softened, a smile curling at his lips as he chuckled.
"Yeah. Sometimes fer fun, too."
Jack seemed to consider this for a moment, pulling his hand back to stare at the smudges of paint on his finger tips. Seeming to decide something, he carefully pushed the remaining paint pots to Bunnymund.
"Alright, then paint some marks on me!"
The older Guardian looked taken aback, blinking owlishly at Jack.
"Uh...What?"
Jack squirmed in place a bit like an impatient child.
"You heard me, paint markings on me! C'mon 'Roo, it'll be fun!" He pulled out his biggest weapon, the puppy eyes. "Please?"
Bunny groaned.
"Strewth..." He whispered, head rolling back in exasperation before he looked back to Jack, speaking louder now. "Fine, fine. Jus' quit it with tha' face."
Jack grinned triumphantly, scooting closer so that he was within arms reach as he rolled his sleeves up past his shoulders before closing his eyes to shield the pair of sapphire orbs from the paint.
Considering the teen for a moment, Bunny settled on an idea and picked up two pots, one with white paint and one with blue. He started with Jack's upper arms, mixing white and blue in his paws to create the sky blue of Jack's eyes and using this to create two large, tribal-style snowflakes, one on each arm. Using the same shade of blue, a vertical line was drawn from the middle of the Winter spirit's upper forehead down to just above the tip of his nose. The sensation of Bunny's fur against his face, both Guardians found out, was apparently an easy way to tickle Jack witless as the boy drew back, laughter bubbling past his pale lips. Aster raised a brow.
"Little ticklish there, Frostbite?"
Jack huffed, trying to hide the red-purple blush on his cheeks.
"N-no!...Okay, maybe a little."
Bunny shook his head good-naturedly, chuckling to himself.
"Alrigh', lean back this way so I can finish."
Jack did as told, leaning back into arm range and letting his eyes slide back shut.
Satisfied that the younger immortal wouldn't move, Bunny took the light blue and drew a crescent line at the boy's forehead, the line dipping down and meeting the vertical line between Jack's dark brows. Two small vertical lines were painted across the teen's lips, close to the corners. Returning to the white paint, a short vertical line, only slightly longer than the twin blue lines on either side of it, was painted down the middle of the Winter spirit's lips.
It was a simple design, overall, but Aster couldn't help feeling a sense of nostalgia as he stared at the pale Winter Spirit who was now decorated like a kit who was preparing for a festival.
As Bunny lost himself to his thoughts, Jack seemed to realize that the Pooka was done. He peeked an eye open, confused as to why Aster hadn't said anything. The teen quickly recognized the distant look in his friend's eyes and, knowing better than to interrupt the Pooka's thoughts, stood and moved to one of the walls. He tapped the crook of his staff lightly against the packed dirt, and a dense layer of frost bloomed, thick enough to be decently reflective.
And so, when Bunny finally shook himself from his musings, it was to find Jack staring at his reflection with clear, unconcealed awe. Clearing his throat, Aster stood.
"So..." He spoke up hesitantly. "What'cha think, Frostbite?"
The gruff voice drew Jack's attention away from his reflection, and Bunny found a pair of bright blue eyes on him, the two sapphire orbs lit with excitement. Bunny swallowed the lump in his throat as it fully registered just how much Jack looked like a nest brother...
"I look awesome!"
The blatant statement caught Bunny offguard, and a chuckle rumbled in his chest.
"So I take it ya like how it looks?"
"Like it? Its amazing! I love it, I look like someone from one of those old African tribes that Jamie tells me stories about!"
Bunny was taken aback by this (usually it was Jack who would tell Jamie stories, not the other way around) but nodded, smiling slightly.
"I see. Glad ya approve." Bunny then straightened fully, sighing as he rubbed the back of his neck. "We should go clean up, we've got a Guardian meetin' soon."
Jack considered this for a moment, then shook his head.
"Nope. I'm keeping this stuff on."
Aster raised a brow, surprised by the straight out refusal. Seeing his confusion, Jack clarified.
"I mean look at me! This paint is so cool, I gotta show the others! And they have to see you too, I mean look at you! You look like a real warrior Pooka now!"
An ear flicked back in annoyance, yet the older Guardian's irritation was more so towards the painful tug at his chest as he was reminded how he'd all but buried everything from his past into these back rooms and deep tunnels. Forcing himself to ignore this painful reminder, Bunny crossed his arms over his broad, furry chest.
"What, I didn' look like one b'fore?"
Jack grinned, thin shoulders lifting in a shrug.
"Well, you look more like one then."
Aster rolled his eyes, shaking his head good-naturedly.
"Yeah, keep it up, ya drongo." He nodded towards the entryway. "C'mon, let's get goin'."
Jack grinned in agreement, padding towards the door.
"Race ya!"
Bunny paused, watching as the boy disappeared beyond the tapestry that hung in the entrance, a fond smile making his whiskers twitch upwards.
"Ah, ya don' wanna race a rabbit, kit." He murmured, voice too soft for any to hear.