Guardians for a Family Chapter 11
I do not own Rise of the Guardians or any of its characters or The Guardians of Childhood or any of its characters
Kangaroo
"Are you ready to eat Jack?" Bunny asked as he mixed a bowl of mashed sweet potatoes.
Jack sucked on his fingers as he was asked the question. Once he saw Bunny mixing his food he took his fingers out of his mouth and waited for the spoon filled with his meal to come to him. Bunny stopped mixing the sweet potatoes and took a scoop of it into the spoon.
"Here it comes," Bunny said as he readied the spoon to travel to Jack.
Once Jack saw that Bunny was going to feed him in the same manner as North did he decided to do what he did with North as well. He opened his mouth and once the spoon was close enough he quickly closed his mouth and turned away. A mischievous smile was on his face as he did so. An amused expression was on the Pooka's face.
"Oh, are ya going to pull the same trick you did with North on me?" Bunny questioned.
Jack just smiled, Bunnymund got his answer and he let out a comical sigh. The Guardian of Wonder had told Bunny of Jack new favorite pastime. That was avoiding eating on purpose, it's not that Jack hated the food he was being served but the baby in him couldn't resist having a little fun with the process of eating. North found it not only comical but downright hilarious.
"Ya think yer cute don't ya?' Bunny asked.
Jack clapped his hands and even stuck out his tongue at Bunny.
"Very funny ya little ankle biter but one way or another you're going to eat yer food."
Jack gave him a look as if telling him that he welcomed the challenge. Bunny stroked his chin and contemplated how to feed Jack. He suddenly came up with an idea; he held the spoon in one hand and moved to Jack's chair. The seven month old looked confused as to what Bunny was doing. The Pooka placed a hand over Jack's stomach and started to tickle him. Jack let out a surprised squeak once he felt the ticklish feeling. He tried to move away but his chair held him in place as the Guardian of Hope continued to tickle him. He couldn't hold in his laughter anymore as sounds of giggles came out of his mouth. Bunny had a sly smirk on his face as he got Jack to do what he wanted. With Jack's mouth wide open he stopped tickling him and once he stopped giggling he quickly placed the spoon in his mouth. Jack felt the taste of sweet potatoes on his tongue and he pouted. He glared at Bunnymund.
"Don't give me that look little mister, ya got yourself into this situation," Bunny said.
The baby huffed a little but chewed the mashed up food before swallowing. Bunny had a look of victory on his face as he scooped another spoonful of mashed sweet potatoes. He held the spoon out for Jack but the baby repeated his actions from earlier.
"Still want to play that game huh?"
Jack gave him another mischievous smile.
"Well two can play at that game."
Bunny raised his hand over Jack's stomach and the baby gasped.
"Don't want that to happen again?" Bunny asked. "Then eat yer food or else ya get tickled."
Just to show that he wasn't kidding he lightly tickled Jack's stomach to which the baby giggled a little. Bunny then stopped and held the spoon in front of Jack. This time the seven month old didn't fight it and opened his mouth. The rest of Jack's meal was eaten peacefully until his bowl was empty. Once he was done eating Bunny cleaned his face. That's when he got the alert. He felt the call of the Guardians, the aurora borealis. Something was going on.
"We have to get to North's workshop," Bunny stated. "Come on Jack."
He took the baby into his arms and went over to his cradle; he removed the stuffed kangaroo toy and gave it to Jack who happily accepted it. He then placed his hand on the cradle.
"Sling," he said.
The cradle changed into a sling and Bunny wrapped it around Jack before placing it one himself. With that he took off into the nearest tunnel and traveled to the North Pole. Along the way Jack played with his stuffed toy. He made it hop on Bunnymund's; he then noticed how Bunny was hopping as well. He never realized that before. Bunny hopped! Whenever Phil had played with him he would always make the kangaroo and her baby hop, he would watched and then make the toys hop himself. Bunny was like the kangaroo in many ways. They had big feet, long ears and could hop. He wondered… was his current caretaker a kangaroo? He pondered that thought as they tunnel led into the Globe Room. The Guardian of Wonder, the Guardian of Dreams and the Guardian of Memories were all there. And now so was Guardian of Hope along with the little future Guardian. As soon as he entered the room Bunny could sense the tension and he could see the looks on the Guardians faces. They were looks of worry and terror… and they were all directed at Jack.
"What's going on?" Bunny asked.
North let out a sigh and he crossed his arms. His expression hardened as he walked over to Bunny and Jack.
"Bunny," North addressed. "It's Pitch."
Bunny's ears twitched, his eyes widen and his hands clutched into fists. Jack noticed how Bunny's body went tense and a puzzled expression appeared on his small face. The tension was almost scaring him and he held his kangaroo tightly.
"He's back," Bunny stated.
"I'm afraid so," North replied. "We need to talk."
North then turned to the side; there was Phil along with some other yetis.
"Please get us a table and some chairs," North said to the yetis.
The giant creatures nodded their heads and did as they were told. They came back several minutes later with what was asked for. They set them down in the middle of the room and the Guardians sat down expect for Bunny. He took Jack out of the sling and had him in his arms.
"Phil, can you stay with Jack while we talk?" North asked.
The yeti smiled and nodded. Bunny allowed Phil to stay the confused baby.
"As for the rest of you return to your duties," North said.
The yetis and elves walked out of the room and went back to what they were doing before the meeting; they knew that once a Guardian meeting occurred they were supposed to stay away from the Globe Room until the meeting was over. All expect Phil left the room. The yeti knew that while Jack was in the care of someone at the same time they didn't want him out of sight especially when the subject concerned Pitch Black. Phil shuddered once he remembered the Boogeyman's first meeting with Jack. The first and only meeting thank goodness. But he now he feared that wouldn't be the case anymore now that he was back. Phil stopped thinking once he heard the small whimpers of a baby. He looked down to see that there were traces of tears in Jack's blue eyes. Tooth saw this too and quickly flew over to the yeti and baby with some of her mini fairies following behind her. She caressed Jack's cheek while the mini fairies stroked his white hair.
"It's okay Sweet Tooth," the Tooth fairy said. "Just play with your kangaroo and go with Phil okay?"
Jack looked at her with uncertainty but he was happy that she spoke to him in gentle words. Tooth could see this and got an idea, she turned to her little flying children.
"Girls, you can play with Jack today," she stated.
This caused the mini fairies to squeal with joy and happiness; they nuzzled their small bodies next to Jack which caused him to giggle a little. He looked happier now much to Tooth's relief, the Tooth Fairy then nodded her head at Phil. The yeti understood what she was trying to say and took Jack into another part of the room but not out of sight from the Guardians as they talked. The small fairies followed them and the Guardians returned to business. They all sat down in their seats as North pulled out several maps along with a feather pen and ink. He started to mark some of the areas on the maps.
"Pitch has been seen by some of our fellow sprits," North stated. "Only this time they saw something that disturbed them."
"What do ya mean disturbed them?" Bunny questioned.
The Tooth Fairy and Sandman looked at their comrade.
"Bunnymund," Tooth addressed. "They said that they saw fearlings."
"And what's different about that?" Bunny asked.
Sand images of fearlings appeared on Sandy's head and a look of fear was on his face as he did so. Bunny noticed how the fearlings looked different than usual, their shapes didn't look human.
"The fearlings are taking different shapes," North said. "They now have animal forms as well."
Bunny's eyes widen.
"What?' Bunny exclaimed. "You mean to tell me that the fearlings now look like animals?"
"Yes," North and Tooth agreed in unison.
Sandy nodded his head in response.
"But that can't be… I thought that only the Man in the Moon and Sandy were capable of such a thing," Bunny stated.
"So did we," Tooth replied. "Apparently that's not the case anymore."
"We should not be surprised though," North said. "Pitch is similar to Sandy when it comes to dream territory as well as abilities only Sandy uses sand to manifest his abilities. Pitch uses darkness."
"That being the case, the spirit world is now worried that he's going to cause more terror in the human world," Tooth stated. "The fearlings main job is to keep an eye on whoever Pitch chooses but they also are his way of making people believe in him. As the Boogeyman he feeds on the fear of Believers. Him being able to make fearlings look more animalistic will certainly bring more fear and therefore create more Believers."
"And his power will increase," Bunny added.
"Exactly," North responded.
Images of children appeared over Sandy's head along with fearlings and Pitch. The sand figures of the children had looks of fear on their faces and the sand fearlings and Pitch grew in size. They Guardians sighed over what Sandy was saying.
"Yes we know that the children's fears and nightmares will make not only Pitch but the fearlings grow stronger as well Sandy," Tooth stated. "Unfortunately we can't really do anything about fear in general though."
"True, we may be Guardians but even we cannot defeat fear itself," North added. "We can only try to remind children that wonder, hope, memories and dreams still exist and can bring joy and happiness. For every bad there is good."
"In other words we keep doing our jobs," Bunny stated. "But we'll have to start dispatching more of these fearlings if we ever come in contact with them especially if Jack is with us."
"The other spirits say that they're going to do the same thing," Tooth said. "They said that it was bad enough when fearlings were invading their territories but now that these new fearlings are amongst us they're not going to stand for it… especially Mother Nature herself."
"She does not like the idea that fearlings are now taking forms of animals," North added. "Mother Nature will not stand for anything that goes against nature. She will no doubt unleash her power onto Pitch."
"Well at least she'll make the job a little more easy but not even Mother Nature herself could stop Pitch," Bunny said as he let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead.
The spirits couldn't help but feel the Pooka's frustration. In a situation like this there was no clear answer especially when they were dealing with forces that work in their own way or couldn't be stopped. They had to accept the fact that some things will always exist no matter what.
Meanwhile Jack was playing on the floor with Phil and the mini fairies. Phil got his stuffed kangaroo and was using it to tickle Jack; the mini fairies were doing the same thing with the baby kangaroo that came in its pouch. Jack giggled as the mother kangaroo and baby kangaroo tickled his neck and his sides. The yeti and small tooth fairies stopped tickling him in order for him to breathe. Once he was done laughing the mini fairies gave him the smaller kangaroo and he began to play with his toy. He laid on the floor and used the kangaroo hop in the air several times. Phil saw this and made the other kangaroo to hop too. Both mother and baby kangaroos were know hopping as Jack and Phil moved their hands. Jack stopped making the toy hop once he noticed the look of Bunny's face as well as the other Guardian's faces. They looked sad much to his dismay. He wondered what was wrong with them. He made gurgle sounds as he pointed to the Guardians. He began to crawl to them, Phil gasped a little as he saw the baby make his way to the four spirits. He knew that the Guardians were busy talking about something important and whenever that happened they were not to be interrupted. He carefully took Jack into his arms and led them away from the Guardians. Jack began to get fussy as he squirmed in Phil's arms; he wanted to go to the Guardians. He began to whimper and he squirmed some more. The mini fairies quietly chirped the baby, hoping that would calm him down. But Jack wouldn't give up…. he wanted the Guardians. He saw that Bunny was the closest to them and decided to get his attention.
"Ka..." Jack started. "Ka… roo… ka… roo… ka…na… roo… kan… ga… roo. Kangaroo!"
Phil and the mini fairies let out a series of gasps as they heard the words come out of Jack's mouth. Jack spoke! He was talking! He said his first word!
The Guardians were busy thinking about their situation once they heard a small, squeaky voice. It was one they had never heard before and the only beings that were capable of some form of speech were Phil and the mini fairies… but they couldn't speak in actual words. That could only mean one thing. They turned to baby Jack, who was still in Phil's arms, with wide eyes and puzzled expressions. They got slowly got closer. It couldn't be…. could it?
"Jack?" North questioned. "Did you…?"
Jack looked at them straight in the eyes and point to Bunnymund.
"Kangaroo!" Jack exclaimed. "Kangaroo!"
"He… he… he… talked…" Bunny said.
"He can… talk," Tooth added.
Images of baby Jack, a parrot and an exclamation point appeared over Sandy's head. His way of saying that Jack talking was surprising. Instead of Pitch Black being the center of attention it was now Jack with his newfound voice. Jack Frost could talk!
"Jack my boy you can talk!" North cheered as he ran towards the yeti and baby. "You said kangaroo!"
Without another word he took Jack into his arms and started to dance around the room while cheering and laughing.
"You can talk little snowflake!" North exclaimed. "Well done!"
Phil cheered in gibberish and waved his arms in the air with joy.
"Oh we're so proud of you Sweet Tooth!" Tooth said as North handed her the baby. "Your first word! And in an adorable voice too!"
The mini fairies chirped with happiness as they flew around their mother and the baby. Jack giggled as he saw this and as he saw Sandy make a giant happy face with his sand. The Sandman was also clapping and jumping into the air with excitement. That's when Jack caught sight of Bunnymund. He pointed to the Pooka and said his first word again.
"Kangaroo!" he exclaimed. "Kangaroo!"
That's when the entire room froze. They looked at the Guardian of Hope and then back at Jack. They suddenly realized why that was Jack's first word and who he was directing it towards. Big grins and smirks appeared on their faces expect for Bunny's. North was the first to burst out with laughter, he held onto his stomach as he did so.
"Bunny he thinks you kangaroo!" North chuckled.
"What?" Bunny exclaimed.
"It's true, after all he keeps pointing to you when he says it," Tooth giggled along with her mini fairies.
They saw what Tooth was talking about as they could see that Jack was still pointing at Bunny. Sandy nodded his head and he pointed to the Pooka as well, he was silently laughing. Bunny felt his face redden with embarrassment.
"Now where on this world did he get an idea like that? I am not a kangaroo mate!" Bunny argued.
North stopped laughing once he felt his foot step in something; he looked down to see that it was the stuffed kangaroo toy he had made for Jack. He picked it up and Phil immediately started to speak to him in his yeti language. His eyes widen as he understood what was being said to him. He smiled and walked to the Guardian of Hope; once he reached him he showed him the toy.
"Phil says that Jack likes to make kangaroo toy hop… just like you Bunny," North stated.
"Oh that explains why he thinks Bunny is a kangaroo," Tooth said. "Not to mention that you do have several attributes of a kangaroo to Bunnymund."
"Like what?" Bunny asked.
Sandy nodded his head in agreement. He then made a sand image of a kangaroo and the Pooka, he then pointed to the ears and feet.
"You do have big feet and ears Bunny," North commented with a chuckle.
"Okay maybe the feet but I can tell you right now that my ears are bigger than a kanagroo's," Bunny replied.
"Still though, they are big nonetheless," Tooth said then he held the baby to face her. "Isn't that right Sweet Tooth?"
Jack smiled and clapped his hands making Tooth smile.
"Kangaroo," Tooth cooed.
"Kangaroo," Jack squeaked with a giggle.
"Don't encourage him!" Bunny exclaimed.
"Kangaroo," North said as he stood beside Tooth and Jack.
"Kangaroo," Jack repeated.
"Stop it!" Bunny said as his blush got brighter.
Sandy flew over the Guardian of Memories and Wonder and a sand image of Bunny appeared over his head. Jack giggled as he reached for it.
"Kangaroo," Jack squealed.
"Knock it off!" Bunny yelled as he waved his fists in the air.
The three Guardians laughed at their friend as did the yeti and mini fairies. Even if he didn't want to admit it Bunny found it funny too. He was very proud of Jack, he managed to say his first word and it was a word that normal babies never said as their first. Jack was growing up right before their very eyes. He was happy to be a witness to that.
"Here you go Jack, here's' your favorite kangaroo," Tooth said as she flew over to Bunny and handed him the baby.
Jack clapped his hands as he was handed to one of his caretakers and the one who he wanted to catch the attention of. He wrapped his small arms around the Pooka's neck and cooed.
"Kangaroo," he whispered.
Bunnymund just stood there and held the baby close. He could hear the baby's soft breathing and feel the warmth of his small body. He looked at his fellow Guardians; they all had smiles on their faces as they watched the scene in front of them. He then looked back down at the baby. Funny how not too long ago they were worried about Pitch Black and his newfound powers. Now the fear and worry seemed to have melted away. And what caused it? Jack Frost. The little baby who despite being a winter spirit could melt your heart easily. Jack made them forget about the bad and remember the good. The Man in the Moon was right about Jack being the pillar in their group. Bunny couldn't wait until he was older and he see what a fine boy and Guardian Jack would grow up to be.
"Yer going to be a great Guardian ya little ankle biter," Bunny stated. "But I'm still not a kangaroo."
"Kangaroo!" Jack giggled as he nuzzled into the Pooka's fur.
The rest of the Guardians laughed… Bunny did as well. They knew that they would have to deal with Pitch sometime but not right now at least. Especially not at a moment like this. A time when the Guardians could remember that they were a family.
I know that it's a little far-fetched to have a baby's first word be "kangaroo" but remember Jack is no ordinary baby. I enjoyed reading all of the guesses as to what Jack's first word would be. The common ones I saw were "fun", "snow", "mama" or "mommy" and "daddy." It was always my intention to have Jack's first word be "kangaroo" though since I thought it was too much of a good opportunity to pass up. Don't worry though Jack will be saying more words soon! Thank you for your reviews everyone. XD
Please review and leave comments, thank you for your time.
