The Sky- It's Probably Nothing
Here she was, stretched out on the roof, her favorite place to hang out when she simply couldn't handle being visible. So many years being invisible will do that to a person. The snow felt good and the horizon was absolutely beautiful.
They had been gathered for dinner and afterwords she had excused herself with the others. Sandman, who was just about to meander out into the world early for the night caught sight of her and gave her a huge smile and a wave.
Waving back she giggled at his enthusiasm, it was so wonderful to know that people their age could still be fun.
Jack, who had seen her headed to her favorite spot, decided to pay her a quick visit. He knew she went here to get away, but also that she never minded his company. She had made sure he was clear about that. She hated needing to be mindful of where others were walking. She forgot that she could be in the way. It tended to make for some awfully embarrassing moments.
"Hey." He greeted as he popped out the window. She grinned lazily leaning her head backward to attempt eye-contact.
"Hi." She almost had to cough out, this was a bad angle for talking. He had to laugh.
"That looked uncomfortable." he noted.
"Eh, at least I didn't fall asleep there. Talk about a headache." She laughed. His eyes widened in disbelief.
"You fell asleep upside down?" He asked. She nodded, highly amused by his facial expressions when he was amazed by anything. Plus those eyes, if they got any bigger they were going to roll out of his head. She giggled.
"What?" He asked raising an eyebrow as he did.
"Nothing." She shook her head and plopped back down in her spot, he plopped down next to her and decided to get her answering things.
"So, do you forget they can see you sometimes? Like if you come out here, or you decide to wander...do you ever forget?" he asked. She figured he was asking as much about her as he was himself. She nodded.
"I do, a lot." She looked a bit farther up, to where the natural blue glow of the northern lights sat, it was in the same place the emergency signal would create a prismatic display of brighter colors when used. At the moment it was just the soft dancing glow of nature. "Sometimes I forget while I'm talking to someone." She added.
"Really? How is that even possible?" he asked, stunned.
"Your guess is as good as mine, but my best is that I'm quite literally too old for this. Can spirits go senile?" She joked. "It would explain SO much." She threw her hands up, "That must be it." She let her hands fall back on her stomach. Jack was still laughing three whole minuets later.
"I don't think you're senile, you're too sharp." He said when he finally calmed down.
"Why thank you." She managed before something odd happened that she hadn't felt in years. She sneezed. Then sneezed again. And again. And again. Whatever the reason she sneezed for a good half-minute before finally being able to sit up straight.
"Woah, you okay?" Jack asked, concerned but always light.
"Yeah, I'm not sure what that was." She shook her head. Jack noticed her being a little flushed and frowned at her. "what?" She asked like she had no idea what he was thinking.
"Maybe we should go inside." He suggested. She was about to object, but upon reflection decided he was right. She stood, but stumbled. He caught her, thankfully, but what he felt scared the hell out of him.
"You're freezing!" Jack said wide-eyed and looking part amazed, stunned and worried. "Has this happened to you before?" he asked. She was about to shake her head when she stopped herself.
"Well give me a moment, I've been around a while." She giggled. "You know, thinking about it this could be a dozen or so things, mostly like the common cold, probably nothing." She offered. She didn't want to tell him what she was actually thinking it was. She just hoped Sandy wasn't around to confirm her fears. He was the only other Guardian old enough to know the symptoms.
"Seriously though, this can't be good. You're literally colder than winter itself." he persisted, not taking her bait to have a little fun. "That means a temperature for us." He explained. She had never presented like that, but she figured it was also the only other time she had what she was thinking, so...
"I know Jack, just breathe. Everything's fine, I probably just tapped into too much magic at once without using it." She tried, he wasn't convinced.
"You're really pale." He pointed out, leading her to one of the couches. She didn't fight him but she wasn't too keen on being babied.
"I'm a winter sprite, Jack, I've never exactly had a tan." She joked.
"You weren't this pale when I got out there." He told her. Oh jeeze.
"Well crap." She conceded. "I know what this is. Nothing else progresses this fast, and...well..." She still didn't want to tell him. He would panic.
"What? What is it?" he was getting worked up.
"I'm not going to tell you if you keep getting worked up, but I think Sandy can help." She told him calmly. "I need to talk to him, like now. If I'm right I have about an hour before it takes full effect and Sandy's the only one that knows about it, and how to treat it." She told him. She nodded and he went to find the Dream-master. She hoped Sandy didn't tell Jack what she had, that wouldn't help.
She also hoped he COULD treat it. They hadn't ever been able to, hopefully magic was the answer.
When he drifted in, she had progressed a lot farther. She was straight-up sweating and shaking like crazy. Luckily none of the yeti had come by and North wouldn't be out of his office for another couple hours. Sandy took one look at her and his already concerned look turned into straight fear.
"Sandy, you know what this is." It wasn't a question, but he nodded anyway.
"What? What is it?" Jack asked, clearly not liking Sandy's expression. Sandy motioned for her to tell him.
"Okay, now that I'm sure...it's plague. I had it once as a mortal and it killed me. it's the first strain, the original one from the dark-ages. We did the math and Sandy and I actually come from the same decade. By immortal standards that makes us around the same age. I'm only around ten years older, cool huh?." She tossed that last bit out hoping it would get him to lighten up. It didn't.
"I'll go tell North?" he asked. Sandy nodded and he shot off like a bullet.
"Come on, let's let him think it's nothing, because we both know that no one has survived this." She told him, he shook his head. He made the symbol for spirits. She frowned at it until the idea clicked.
"You're right! None of the spirits HAVE ever had this." She mused. "We're hard to kill and we heal quick, maybe if I can wait it out..." She must have made a face because Sandy was making another in sympathy. He knew how this disease progressed. She wouldn't exactly be sitting somewhere reading a book. This was violent causing fever, nausea, pain of the everything, delirium, hallucinations, nightmares, and pretty much everything that comes with pneumonia and the flu. She was going to be half-dead if she came out of this in her right mind. She shuddered when she remembered how bad it had been the first time.
He made they symbol for bed and she just frowned at it.
"Honestly I'd rather just sit here and pretend this isn't happening." She told him, doing her best not to meet his eye. He understood, and he sat down next to her on the couch.
(I understand) He signed. The pure surprise on her face really just made him a little sad. That no one ever said that to her struck a chord with him and he smiled a huge, happy smile. (We'll figure it out. Don't worry, I'll keep the nightmares away.) He told her and she just half-smiled.
"One side-effect down, and actually one of my least-favorite." She sighed and ran her hands over her face as she felt a new tremor work its way through her spine and into her whole body. It made her feel sick and caused her to double over, pulling her knees up to her chest, and wretch painfully. When that passed she felt the sickness try to set in and she basically collapsed to the side, letting Sandy catch her and pull her over to him. He felt the energy drain out of her and knew the delirium was close.
By this time Jack had told North about the whole situation but they had assumed she would be lying down somewhere, so they had just now found her. Sandy had cushioned the couch with dream sand and was trying to lull her to sleep when they came around the corner.
He waved them over.
"Is she going to be okay?" North asked, Sandy's face fell. He didn't know for certain. He made the signs for hope, and waiting.
"Is there anything we can do?" Jack asked him and he started to shake his head, but decided that there was something Jack could do.
He handed him a vile of dream-sand. He watched Jack's face move from concern to surprise.
"You mean what I think you do?" He asked, Sandy nodded. Jack just looked down at the sand, then back up at him a few times before finding his voice.
"How?" He asked. Sandy had to chuckle. He told him to open it. The sand knew what to do and Jack took off, tendrils of sand swirling around him ready to work. Now Sandy could stay with her like he had promised.
"How bad is it?" North asked him. Sandy looked down and saw her struggling to wake back up. Sadly, he wasn't stopping her.
"Be...fine." She choked out. Doubled over weakly again she started coughing and almost couldn't breathe. Sandy held her up until she was able to relax again. Eyes still closed she opened her mouth to speak and was met with Sandy's hand brushing her mouth. She opened her eyes to see Sandy shaking his head with a sympathetic smile. She got the message and decided he was right, shutting her mouth and letting her head fall back down on his shoulder.
The sight from her angle was off-kilter. North wasn't usually this quiet but he seemed at a loss. She watched his mouth move but sound reached her as nonsensical babbling. Looking up she saw Sandy responding. She frowned, Sandy made sense and North didn't. She could feel herself shaking and her mind slipping.
In a slight panic her eyes widened as she fought for lucidity. Her breath caught and she tensed to try to sit. She shook her head and was met with auras. She shut her eyes tight and tried to focus, when she opened them she saw that she was upright. Sandy still had her by the waist, but North was supporting her and she had a firm hold on one arm of his with both hers. Sandy tried to get her to sit back but something told her not to.
"No." She said through clenched teeth. She wouldn't just lay down and let this happen. North met her eye and Sandy watched her war with herself.
"Easy. Relax, we are here." North spoke softly and something about the way he spoke clicked with her. She was lucid again and let Sandy guide her back down, but North let her have his hand. Somehow it grounded her.
Her clarity seemed to stay, marginal though it was, through her efforts.
"Don't...want...t-to..." She ventured but ran out of breath. North and Sandy exchanged a look of pure helplessness. North felt her grip tighten and knew she was fighting for the clarity she still possessed.
When she closed her eyes this time she ran out of fight. The disease had finally taken hold and her grip slackened as she completely knocked out. It was disturbing for them to watch, almost more so than it was for her. She still shook and her hand still held his, though admittedly he figured it was more a nervous tic than her being conscious.
In her fever her dreams took hold of her and sent her into a swirling chasm of every nightmare and fear she had ever had. Every bad memory, moment of pain or fear, every single mistake she had ever made all rolled up into one convenient package, and she was centuries old.
That was a lot to cover.
As this was going on her hand fell off his and she relaxed, this was the easy part. Her breathing was normal, her pulse steady. Sandy watched his friend struggle with the situation. He urged him to go back to his office and carve, he could always check back.
North nodded and did as Sandy suggested. Upon sitting back down at his desk he could barely concentrate. True he took care of and protected all the children in the world, but there were only two he had the pleasure of being around, having in his life. One of them was rolling in pain and nightmares on his living room couch and he couldn't do a thing to help her. He wanted to be there but Sandy was right, disappointing the other children in the world wouldn't do a bit of good and Sandman was the only help she had. He would try to be there when she came around again.
Meanwhile Sky fought for her mind's health. She found and conquered every fear she ever had while thrashing violently. Sandy didn't try to subdue her, it would only be uncomfortable for all involved and more likely make things worse. There was really nothing she could do to hurt him too badly anyway, especially so weakened. By the time she woke up he was certain he would have a black eye though.
He thought back to the last time he saw this, experienced it even, and remembered the in-and-outs. The waking but not really waking, seeing your fears in both dreams and reality. She was going to be hallucinating and he just hoped he would be able to break through the fog.
She quieted down a moment, seeming to dream better dreams for a moment or two before she opened her eyes with a jerk and a little squeak he was certain could have been a shriek.
"No!" She was trying to yell, but it came out much more like a whine, a whimper really. Looking around like she was searching for something, someone, her eyes found Sandy and the small amount of tension she had managed to gather was released. He wondered if she was hallucinating yet, as sad as that was the sooner it happened the sooner this could be over. He got his answer in the form of little choked sobs. She had buried her face in his shoulder.
"I-it's n-n-not real. N-n-not...real, r-r-right?" It was almost too quiet for him to hear but he heard it. His response was to tighten his hug and nod. Whatever she was seeing he must be outside of it. It was about this time North came running. He had heard her wake up, apparently.
"What happened?" He asked quietly. Sandy made the sign for awake and nightmare. North nodded. Sky, in her semi-lucid state, was repeatedly stuttering that this was not real. Whatever she was seeing it was bad and she didn't believe it. Sandy nodded at her, basically telling him she needed someone who could talk.
"Is okay, is not real, I promise." He assured her quietly. She looked up quickly and upon catching sight of him gave another little surprised squeak, as though she was seeing something horrible, back-pedaling into Sandy. It prompted renewed choking sobs and her being even more deeply buried in Sandy's shoulder. "Hey, hey is okay, I'm sorry. Don't look up, just stay where you are." He sat and scooted closer. "Can you tell us what it is you see?" He asked. "What is wrong?" They both waited.
"D-dead." She choked out. Both of them sat shocked for a moment and North did the only thing he could do. He covered one of her hands with his and just said anything and everything he could to get her to know that it wasn't real, that everyone was okay, everyone was safe.
When she finally fell asleep again Sandy knew there would be no more shooing North away again. He was terrified for her, and as far as he was concerned being there was all he could do for her, and Sandy wouldn't try to deny him that.
He brought what he needed from his office and pulled up and armchair and end table. They sat in silence, the sound of his ice pick filling the room. Sandy would have been more worried were it not for the reassuring rise and fall in her chest. He had to wonder how Jack was faring at his new, although temporary, job. The thought actually prompted a smile.
Out somewhere over the northern hemisphere Jack was discovering how unruly dream magic could be. He found himself wondering how either of them had done it before, but he couldn't ask so he decided to wing it. He wasn't made of dream sand, so he guessed that was part of it, but he was still having quite a hard time.
"Hey, I said that way. That's a tree. Trees don't dream." he spoke to one of the lines of gold. It swirled around him in a way he could almost construe as mocking before heading off toward a village. He was trying to have a little fun with it, make light of everything but the way the sand was acting he couldn't help but wonder. He really hoped the demeanor of the sand wasn't a reflection of how things were going.
Back at the pole, things were getting worse. Sandy kept telling himself it was almost over and North wasn't telling himself anything. He was focused solely on calming Sky down. She would wake and whatever she saw would cause such terror in the little spirit that she would border-line hurt herself trying to flee from it.
After an entire night of this Jack drifted through the window with an empty vial and a black eye. Sky, having an unexpected bout of clarity, had to comment.
"What happened to you?" She asked. She tried to giggle but just coughed. Sandy busted into a huge grin at her sounding somewhat lucid and North just sat back, relieved she was talking.
"Lost a fight with a dream sand elephant and a light pole." He provided. She had to laugh.
"Really? Why did you get in its way?" She asked.
"Wasn't my fault." He said as he perched himself on the edge of the couch. "He started it." He defended. She shook her head.
Having tried to sit up, and having Sandy give her the don't you dare look, she settled for conversation. That wasn't to say she wasn't sick, she was still fairly bad-off, but as long as her mind was her own she wasn't as bothered. Unfortunately her fever was getting worse and Sandy was concerned. She was still shaking and pretty much curled up as tightly as she could be. Her head rested on the golden-man's lap and each breath rattled her small frame.
Jack and North both fell asleep that evening where they sat leaving Sky with Sandy. He made the symbols for sleep and healing.
"Actually, I'd rather not." She told him. He shook his head. She needed the sleep to heal.
"Yeah, and I do, and what happens? I lose what's left of my marbles." She crossed her arms and gave him a determined look that was lessened by the half-asleep and flushed nature of her face. The chills didn't help her in looking convincing either. Sandy had to grin.
He decided to let her think she had won the argument. She would knock out on her own soon enough, plus the poor thing was way more terrified than she would let on. He hoped this would be the end of it. If they were lucky the rest would pass while she was asleep.
Through the next day and a half she was at her calmest, but things were much more dire. This was it, the moments that would tell them how resilient she would be. There were no more waking hallucinations but from the look on her face and the little tension she could manage her dreams weren't much better. Sandy turned out to be pretty right about his earlier guess when she accidentally caught him on the chin. He shrugged, he couldn't blame her.
He was starting to get really worried when her breathing started to sound pneumatic and her pulse died out. He had never seen anyone survive long enough to present this way. He wasn't so sure this was a good sign, but she was alive so he counted that a blessing. They had decided that while there was nothing they could use to treat the disease itself, maybe something could help these symptoms.
Problem...they had to wake her up.
This time there was promise.
"Hmm?" was her response, eyes half open, clearly drained of every ounce of energy.
"We think this might help you out." Jack provided. North was still asleep courtesy of Sandy, he was getting a little too worked up and they didn't want to chance any surprises. He would understand later.
She did a little stretch and yawn which prompted a bunch of sneezing, coughing and sniffling. Sandy helped her sit up so she could drink a tea they had made with various medicines in it and her favorite, peppermint. He was still shivering and leaning pretty heavily on Sandy, but he was pretty certain she wasn't too aware of much. Jack, having a bit of foresight, had put it in a cup with a lid and had to steady her hands even then.
From there on out it was much more like a really bad case of the flu with just a touch of migraines. Shaken, not stirred.
They convinced North to head back to his office once more with the promise that the worst was behind them. Sandy still stuck around to be sure, but from what he could see her worst problem at this point was trying to sleep. It was more fitful and easily interrupted than usual. On the upside she was pretty much better by the end of the week. When awake she was just fine, maybe the occasional sneeze.
Within the next week or so she got back to moving around but Sandy, Jack and North would scarcely let her out of their sight and she was just about done with tea by that point. The next time she was presented with anything that had peppermint in it she made a face that fell somewhere in between retching and fatigue. Needless to say that was the cause of many, many minutes of laughter from the group.
When the next meeting came around Tooth and Bunny were informed of this incident and she braced herself for whatever they would say. Naturally they were worried but Tooth was downright fussy.
"Calm down would you? I'm perfectly healthy thanks." She tried desperately to deter the fary who was now all over her. Sandy sat there chuckling and Sky met his eye and gave him the 'traitor' look.
She really hoped none of the after-effects were still presenting, if Tooth got hold of even a single thing to fuss over they wouldn't be able to pry her off the sprite.
"Relax, mate." Bunny to the rescue! "It's over, she's fine." He practically pulled the fary off her. She gave him a grateful look. She wasn't paying attention to Tooth's ramblings about how it could come back and such. When the meeting was over she hid in North's workshop to wait the fary out.
"That was, little scary." She heard her favorite jolly Russian chuckle. She shook her head.
"Tell me about it." She crossed her arms. "Is she gone?"
"Yes, Bunny convinced her to leave." He informed her, not even trying to hide his mirth. She rolled her eyes with an ill-concealed grin.
"I'll have to thank him later, for now I'm going to stay in here." She said suspiciously, "especially given that smirk on your face." She added as she sat down.
"What? Don't trust me?" He didn't even try to look offended.
"Not when you're grinning at me like you're hiding something." She crossed her arms. Come to think of it, where was Jack? She eyed him. He was doing an awful job of being serous.
He was making his way around the desk when something started to smell different. She almost didn't notice until she caught North eyeing her.
"What are you looking at me like that for?" She asked. He shrugged, looking around and trying to hide a chuckle.
Then it hit her.
She coughed and her hand shot up to cover her nose. Her stomach was doing back-flips and she glared at the Russian on her way to the door.
Darn the manufacturer of all the peppermint candles he had replaced his usual ones with.
She couldn't go back in there or have peppermint for the better part of the next year.
As per usual I hope you enjoyed and please let me know if something is off. Also, this is a stand-alone in this universe (The Sky), I'm sorry I hadn't thought about making it it's own story because I honestly didn't think it would get this far but it just sort of spiraled out of control. Thanks for listening!