Jack was held down by North or one of his yetis the whole time. After a while, he gave up trying to escape and sat on the couch, waiting for the portal to appear.
When it did, he shot to his feet only to see black sand covering the portal. But it wasn't there for long. Tooth and Ranger come through first, with Bunny right behind them. Jack could barely see Pitch before it closed.
"Jack! Glad to see you're not half dead." Bunny said.
"How's Ranger doing?" Jack asked.
"She seems to be asleep, sort of." Tooth said with a small frown. She flew over to one of the couches and set the girl down.
"What is she wearing?" Jack asked with a light laugh. "It looks ridiculous!"
"Tell me about it." Bunny muttered.
"Is Charles and Iyana still here? Maybe they can look at her." Tooth said before flying off.
"What did he do to her..." Jack muttered, putting the back of his hand on her head. Ranger winced as he did this, so he pulled away. He must be a bit to cold to help. "I'll go get her cloak. It's still in her room, right?"
Bunny nodded. "It should."
Jack nodded before taking off. He could fly, but he had to stay low to the ground. The kids loved to see him, but it was hard to have fun in the aftermath of a war. And it wasn't winter yet. So he couldn't do anything related to winter.
While Ranger was gone, he's had time to think. Pitch had said that Ranger had to die in order for the war to end. But, the war ended and Ranger is still alive. So he thought about it. What was an equivalent to death? Giving up was one. So, if we go off of that, if Ranger simply gave up and laid down, then the war would end. But, it didn't look like she's done that. But, she's been gone for a long time. So she might have given up.
He walked into her room, grabbing her cloak that was hung on a hook near the door. He swung in over his shoulder before flying out.
Another option, was Ranger actually did die but is still here because she's the Spirit of War. And as long as people believed in the idea of war, she would still be around. He asked North as many questions as he could think of to further this investigation of his. North didn't give to much information. So this was all that Jack could think of.
"Here." He said as he landed in the main room again. Bunny was gone, with Charles and Iyana in his place. Tooth was hovering above with a few little fairies flying around her. He held out Ranger's cloak to Iyana. "This is hers."
"Thanks Jack." Iyana said. "I'll give it to her when she wakes up."
Ranger looked around, not sure where she was. It was warm here though. Almost, to warm. She looked down at herself, seeing she was back in her normal clothes and her cloak was still missing. She sighed and looked at the wide, empty area around her. There was a light blue above her, so she guessed that was up. At her feet was pure white it was almost blinding. Around her, it was also white. No texture of any kind to be seen. So she had to watch her step.
She felt her belt was light, so that meant she didn't have her knives on her. Her bow was probably wherever her cloak was.
Suddenly, a single sound broke through the silence.
"Annaliese!"
She spun around to be faced with a familiar face. Tears sprung to her eyes, blurring the golden figure in front of her. "Sandy!" She said, running towards him. She went to her knees in front of him, wrapping her arms around him. She felt his arms around her to.
"I missed you."
"You...You can talk?" Ranger asked.
Sandy nodded. "Only here though. My sand doesn't work, so I guess I get my old voice instead. How does it sound?" He smiled.
Ranger smiled back and nodded. "It suits you. Though, why the Swedish accent?"
"Thanks. That's because I'm originally from Sweden. Like how Santa is originally from Russia. Anyway, I'm here for a reason."
Ranger nodded and sat back, resting on the ground with her legs crossed in front of her. She wiped at her eyes, muttering half on apology.
"It's fine. Now, listen carefully. The only reason you are here, is because you are so close to death. Most people just let go at this point and they die."
Ranger took that information silently. Her mind was panicking. She was dying? What had caused this? She was doing fine before, right? Or...no...she wasn't doing fine before. She was barely standing on her own two feet. Is that what it felt like to be close to death?
"You, on the other hand, are a spirit, as you know." Sandy continued. "It takes a lot more than this to keep you dead. So, its up to you. You can let do and die, letting someone else take your place as a Spirit of War. Or you can continue living. Life does get better after this, you know. It's after their war that a War Spirit can fully live. They live as a memory, usually with a holiday to themselves."
"Wait, what?" Ranger put her hands up. "Take a few steps back. Have their been other Spirits of War before me?"
"Yes. Actually, I was like you before my war came about. Then after that, I continued living and became the Sandman. Best decision ever." He added with a smile.
Ranger nodded. "So, as I am, I can die and go join my sister and family. Or, I can live and experience happiness."
Sandy nodded. "That's just about it. It took me a lot longer to realize this so I'm glad you're as smart as you are."
This made Ranger smile. Then it faded. "But...what about you? Are you going to come back?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. I was lucky last time."
"But, if you don't come back, who's going to give dreams to the world?"
He shrugged. "Again, I don't know. I've lived a long time, a lot longer than most spirits do. The Moon might decide that my time is up. If it's not, then I'll be sure you're the first to know."
Ranger nodded. "Okay."
"Now, here's the big decision on your part. Do you stay with your new friends? Or do you go on, and live content with all you did in your life?"
