Author's Note: Wow, thank you so much guys! It totally made my day seeing that chapter 10 was a success. So, the reason why it took me sooo long to get this chapter done was because my family and I went camping. Surprise. So, I couldn't take my laptop, and there wouldn't have been Wi-Fi anyways… Ugh. Alright, so I'm back now and ready to start writing! Without further ado, I present chapter 11!
"Ah!" Jack shouted in surprise at the colourful shape hugging his arm. "Wait, Baby Tooth?" he said more quietly. "What are you doing here?" Baby Tooth didn't let go, but gave a few chirps. Jack sighed.
"Ok, look I've really gotta go, and I don't want you to get hurt…" Baby Tooth hugged his arm harder and looked up at him with her version of Bambi eyes. Jack tried to resist her cute little stare, but gave in at the end.
"Fine, but stay out of danger, ok?" Jack said, Baby Tooth nodding earnestly. Jack glanced around; worried a shadow man might try to stop him from taking Baby Tooth out with him. Jack wondered what Baby Tooth had done to get herself in Pitch's lair, or if she had been looking for him. Satisfied no one was coming; Jack finished making his way to the exit. Alright, as soon as I'm outa here, I'll get Wind to take me to…Jack's thoughts trailed off. Where was he supposed to find his evil "twin"? Jack shook his head, telling himself he needed to get out of Pitch's lair before he did anything else. Baby Tooth finally relinquished his arm, and flew into the pouch in his hoodie. Jack entered the darkness of the tunnel and started up the steep, rocky floor.
North straightened up and stretched. His back was sore from spending so much time slouched over his work and getting up and down from the floor so many times. North rubbed his bleary eyes, regretting not getting enough sleep. Suddenly, he heard an echo-y voice, faint, but unmistakable, calling his name.
"North! North?!" Bunny's voice quickly grew closer; he must have been running. North was about to walk over and open his workshop door, when it slammed open and Bunny burst in.
"Bunny, make it quick, I should really –" North was cut off by Bunny.
"Look mate, ah gotta tell ya this. Me an' Tooth need your help, before it gets any worse," Bunny was talking quickly, and North was having a hard time understanding him through his panting.
"What? I cannot understand you; take a breath Bunny!" North said, patting the rabbit's shoulder. After a couple of deep breaths, Bunny said, "Jack's the one who's been causing all the trouble around 'ere. Well, not really Jack, 'e's an imposter or something. Ya follow mate?" North considered for a second.
"Alright, so there is evil Jack running about workshop?" he said. Bunny nodded. "Not only that, but we're – that is, me an' Tooth – sure he's the one who corrupted all Tooth's memories, and ah doubt he's far from mess'n with ma Warren. Now, ah haven't heard from Sandy, but – " Now North cut off Bunny. "How do you know this for certain? You have definitely seen 'Jack' doing these things?" North was inclined to believe Bunny, but for once he was trying to think everything through before he leapt into action.
"Look mate, Baby Tooth told Toothiana she saw 'im riding a Nightmare, trashing your machines and when we sent her to follow 'im, she disappeared," Bunny was starting to use exaggerated movements while he spoke. That meant he was getting impatient.
"Alright, Bunny, I think I believe you, but I do not think I can be much help now; I am very busy with workshop and machines…" North said. Bunny looked troubled.
"Then next time Jack comes around, make sure 'e doesn't leave, a'right?" Bunny said, preparing to leave. North was about to agree, when a familiar gold figure entered the corridor.
"Sandy is here!" North said happily. Sandy was floating towards them at a hurried pace. He looked upset.
"Sandy, what brings you here?" North said in a light tone, despite Sandy's expression. There was a blur of gold dust above Sandy's head, and some images formed; a mini Sandman with dreams going off in all directions, a Nightmare head being chased by the angry mini-Sandman along with several other small shapes that broke up the dreams. After a few seconds, the figures dissipated.
"Were those Nightmares?" Bunny asked darkly. Sandy nodded. "Aw, great. North, would ya repeat 't Sandy what ah just told ya? Ah gotta get Tooth," Bunny mumbled the last part. "And stay 'ere!" he said before running off down the corridor.
Jack emerged into sunlight. His eyes began to water as they tried to adjust to the brightness of his surroundings. Jack rubbed his stinging eyes with the backs of his hands, then stepped into the shadow of a tree, looking at the ground. A couple minutes later, Jack looked up for a proper look at where he was. It was a forest, but he didn't recognize the trees or plants, and it was considerably warmer than when he had left (well, more like kidnapped). For a terrifying second, Jack wondered if he'd spent all year in Pitch's lair, and it was now summer. But that was impossible; Pitch had started his evil plan the day he captured Jack, so he would have been done ruining the Guardians by now, if it was summer.
Jack sighed in relief. He was probably in South America somewhere, maybe even in Italy or Greece or somewhere like that. Pitch had entrances everywhere. Well, it didn't matter where he was; he had to get a lift to the Pole, and he knew someone who could take him. Jack looked through the treetops at a clear blue sky.
"Hey Wind! I really need to go to the Pole right now," Jack shouted, even though it was unnecessary. Nothing happened.
"Wind?! C'mon, I know I was gone…" Jack stopped talking. Why was he trying to convince his friend to take him somewhere? He had never had to so much as think about wanting to fly; Wind was always there (metaphorically speaking, of course). Jack frowned. Fine, he'd just jump out of a tree or something, and Wind would catch him like it always did. He turned to the tree whose shade he was borrowing. The limbs were too high for him to reach, so he checked out its neighbor. One thick branch sprouted from the trunk a little higher than his outstretched hand. Jack bent his knees and jumped, feeling his hands close over the bark. Jack used the rest of his momentum to lift himself up. Climbing trees had been a fun past time over the last 300 years, and Jack couldn't help the urge to climb as high as he could.
Jack reached the top branches, and scanned the tree tops. He thought he could see some buildings to the west, and Jack remembered he hadn't eaten properly for several days. Pitch's "energy drink" wasn't going to last forever, and he should probably get some fuel. Jack swivelled on his branch, and jumped.
For the first three seconds, Jack was fine, Wind never caught him immediately, but after those three seconds, Jack felt panic and then pain as he hit the ground with a loud thump. Jack's breath left him and he struggled to breath for a minute. He had landed on his chest, and although no bones were broken, it hurt terribly, and Jack's eyes began to water. At first it was because of the pain, and then Jack had real tears coming. Wind hadn't caught him. Wind hadn't caught him. Why hadn't Wind caught him? Wind was always there, always there. For 300 years Wind had been there. His only companion. Suddenly, Jack remembered Baby Tooth. She had been in his pouch. New panic stopped the slow flow of tears, and he quickly checked the folded blue fabric. She wasn't there.
Cheeks still wet, Jack called out softly.
"Baby Tooth?" A brightly coloured head poked out of some leaves that littered the ground. Jack felt hugely relieved, but with the panic gone, more hurt made him tear up again. Baby Tooth brushed leaves off her body, then flitted over to Jack looking concerned and confused. She chirped questioningly.
"Wind… Wind didn't catch me when I jumped out of the tree. Wind always flies me wherever I need to go, always. Wind either hates me now, or something happened; which is impossible, since you can't catch the Wind," Jack said. As he finished, Baby Tooth's eyes widened as if something terrible had dawned on her. And then she flew off like a rocket through the trees.
"Baby Tooth! Come back!" Jack shouted after her. He sighed disappointedly when she didn't reappear. Jack tried to make himself feel better by telling himself she would come back. Whatever she was doing, it was obviously important.
Wind Remembers
My anger had finally given over to woe. I was powerless and I could do nothing to help myself. Evil Jack had had enough falling from the sky for one day, and was taking out his frustration on a nearby tree. Once or twice his Nightmare had come to watch, and she stalked around the outskirts of the field, mostly glaring at me with hate, or looking at Jack with anger. I was inclined to believe she hated that Jack tried to use me to travel rather than her. After perhaps an hour of attacking the unfortunate tree, the evil Jack turned his attention to me again. He told me to take him to the North Pole. How he expected this attempt to be different than the last, I couldn't say.
I was surprised, however, that I kept the evil Jack flying steadily this time. Of course, I went as slowly as possible without raising suspicion that I was holding back. After only half an hour, evil Jack was… smiling. Well, I should think that anyone who was being carried by my wind through the open sky would feel joy, but I suppose the fact that I thought of him as generally evil, I didn't believe he could feel happiness. That didn't mean I didn't still hate him with my entire being.
Baby Tooth couldn't believe it. The spirit from Pitch's lair… it had been Wind all along! She felt bad for leaving Jack, especially after he realised Wind had been separated from him, but she had to get help! If the evil Jack had Wind… Baby Tooth shuddered to think. Baby Tooth only ever flew as fast as she was right now when she was collecting teeth. She couldn't be certain whether she was in the West or the East, but Toothiana's fairies always knew where she was, and that was where Baby Tooth was going. If she could just tell Toothiana that the real Jack had escaped...
After some time of flying, Baby Tooth began to recognize where she was. She was definitely in western Asia. Which meant the Tooth Palace wasn't too far away (for a frenzy flying fairy that is). As she grew ever closer to her destination, Baby Tooth took on a sense of dread. Was there… could there be something wrong at the toot palace?
Jack was concentrating so hard on trudging through the undergrowth, that he didn't see the deathly silent Nightmare following alongside him. When Jack finally looked up and saw her, he almost fell over from surprise, and of course, fear. She was huge, at least the size of a war stallion. Jack just stared with wide eyes at the creature. It stared back. After a few minutes of the awkward starring contest, the Nightmare approached him. However, her demeanor was so calm and purposeful, Jack stayed where he was (it wasn't like he could outrun the Nightmare anyways). When she was in front of him, the Nightmare's glowing amber eyes bored into Jack and he heard her speak: Mirtis. Jack knew, as plainly as they were talking normally, that it was her name. Ok, what? Jack thought to himself. What is happening here? Mirtis proceeded to show him (Jack would never figure out how exactly it had happened, but it was almost like a black and white film inside his head) pieces events that at first he didn't understand, but soon realised they were things Mirtis had seen; memories.
The first one was of him, no, it was the other him. He was in Jack's room at the Pole and he was… fighting someone. It was a girl, but the two of them were moving too quickly for him to see who it was. Why did her sword look familiar? Eventually, she made a mistake, and fell onto the floor, apparently unconscious.
The next fragment was of the unconscious girl slung across Mirtis' back (who didn't look very pleased by it at all) and the other Jack was walking down a deserted corridor. They entered a room that was almost completely bare. It had one of those old heavy wooden beds pushed against the wall, to which the girl was chained to with a… shadow? The other him seemed nervous, anxious to leave. It showed the other Jack leaving on Mirtis.
The following scene showed the now fully awake girl and Jack walking stealthily through the dark halls of Pitch's lair. The other Jack took a different route out of the lair than Jack had. When they were free from the Bogeyman's castle, the girl and the other Jack walked through a thin forest to a field covered in browning slush. Jack's "twin" said something to the girl, but all Jack heard was a mumble. At first nothing happened, but then the bar limbs of the trees began to sway and the girl and the other Jack lifted off the ground. Jack looked terribly uneasy; as if he were trying to balance on a rope. The girl seemed fine, though. In fact, it was as if… as if she were the one controlling the force that was carrying them. And then Jack realised. Wind.
