OMGOSH! it's been a while since I last updated.
So sorry about that but life and stuff got in the way.
Anyway... THANK YOU to everyone who has been following and reviewing and omgosh thank you all for reading.
So I really want to finish the story by August or the latest end of August. and I will!
There will be two more chapters (not including this one) plus an epilogue.
So thanks again for reading and for the love
R&R
Jack, Tooth, and Sandy had arrived minutes after Bunny took off. Jack was the last to arrive out of the three and after a quick briefing from one of the parrots he headed to the hatching area where the guardian of memories and dreams were doing their best to help the parents clean the remains of their nests and remove the bodies of the mangled chicks. It took a long hour and a half but they finally managed to clear away most of the debris left behind by the ruthless Eros.
They did their best to comfort the parents of the dead hatchlings, but Jack and Sandy both felt helpless and unsure of themselves. The most either of them could do was listen and provide a word of regret of their loss. Tooth on the other hand was a magnet to the poor birds. They went to her for comfort that the other two Guardians could not give. Her faires trickled in as the time wore on, every single fairy that came partnered with a grieving family member and provided comfort and reassurance that the murderer would be brought to justice.
After it was clear that the fairies had a handle on the situation and with the area cleaned, the trio said their goodbyes and walked away.
Jack turned to look at his fellow guardians and he could see the same horrible pain in each of their faces, that were sure to reflect in his own. Sandy rode on a small cloud of sand but he is looking down at his hands, opening and closing them slowly. Jack noticed that although the Sandman is not crying, his eyes are clouded over and his mouth set in a firm frown. The winter spirit turns his attention to Tooth who is walking, her wings pressed down on her back, and her hands hanging down to her side. He looks at her face and his heart breaks into a million pieces. She is silently crying, no sobs, just water falling freely from her dimmed purple eyes.
He places a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from walking, and turns her to face him. Without saying a word he smiles very softly and wipes the tears from her face. Slowly he sees the color returning to her eyes and in a blink of an eye she is hugging him, crying softly into his shoulder. He blushes and slowly he pats her back, realizing that this was more painful for her and her fairies than for the other two guardians, because even though she was walking away parts of herself were still there with the mourning parents, feeling their pain and grief and making it her own. A minute passes and Tooth pulls away, tears in her eyes. She wipes her eyes as her wings unfurl. She flies up and without saying a word nods at Jack with a sad smile, before flying towards the sequoia tree.
Jack takes a deep breath and follows, letting the wind blow him up towards the giant tree, he turns back and notices that Sandy is following right behind him on his cloud of sand.
As the enter though the opening window, Jack notes that besides North, a few of his yetis, and Steve, the room is otherwise empty. Jack walks towards the large man, and reflects on the first time he arrived on the Ile. It seemed like another lifetime ago. A happier life.
Jack approaches North who is talking to a group of yetis, "I want guards at every corner of the Ile and we need to replenish our supply of snow globes. Jerry, " North turns to face a dark brown yeti, "Go back to the pole with Kevin and Kris and check on the status of gifts and preparations for Christmas, when I get back I want to see the list." he yeti nodded before pulling out a snowglobe and throwing it to travel to the the pole with 2 others.
As Jack approaches North, the remaining yetis nod their heads at their boss before walking down the staircase, Jack nods to the yetis and asks North, "How many of the abominable snowmen you got on the Ile?"
North sighs and sits on a chair, clearly exhausted, "I have nearly half the yetis here. My more intelligent yetis are focused on finding a cure on that black ooze that Eros puts on the birds." Jack shivered, he had seen the effect that ooze had on the birds and those images haunted him, North continued,"The others are back at the pole taking care of the preparations for Christmas. But still some of them that are at the pole are tending to the birds that do not want to return here." He rests his arms on his knees and looks at Jack, "I have less than 4 months to prepare, along with trying to help here my resources are very thin. Thin like paper. Not to mention I still have half the birds still perched around the workshop. I know they're all very helpful, but at the moment they are all still shaken up. The yetis are caring for them and putting gift making on hold for now. It is times like these I wish the elves could be more helpful."
Jack rubbs his neck awkwardly, "Anything I can do to help?"
"No." North says, shaking his head and leaning back, "you have enough on your shoulders. Bringing winter and keeping an eye out for Eros should be your top priority. Do not mind my complaining." He grinned, "I have enough help, it'll be pushing our limits but we can manage. It would be helpful if Bunny was here to take charge of things. I heard he was doing very well. But by the way Bunny and Angel acted today I doubt those two would be wanting to talk for a while." He closed his eyes.
Jack hadn't heard what had happened between the Easter Bunny and Cupid, all he knew was that Eros had attacked and killed innocent young birds and Angel was pretty broken up about it. In fact she hadn't even greeted him when he arrived. He was briefed by a bird and went to work. In fact he hadn't even seen or heard where Bunnymund was, he just assumed the bunny was comforting Cupid.
"Where…. exactly is Bunny?" Jack hesitantly asked.
North gave another sigh and without opening his eyes he shrugged his shoulders, " No clue. He and Angel….. had another falling out of sorts and I've been too busy taking care of making the Ile safe and planning to look for him."
"I can go find the Kangaroo for ya." Jack said already heading back toward the window.
"Jack." North's voice made Jack turn and he saw the larger man, his eyes now open and serious, "Bunny is in no mood for games and jokes. He has to come back but do not push him."
Jack thought over his words, before giving the large man a curt nod and jumping out of the window. He falls down for a few seconds before the wind picks him back up and he flies over the tree top. Jack flew for a few minutes before something strange caught his eye and he decided to land on top of a branch.
He used his staff to brush the leaves out of his line of sight and saw Bunnymund's giant egg golems walking in a straight line. Jack repositioned himself to count the golems, and to figure out where they were heading. From the looks of it they were heading towards the hatching area. He counted 25 golems and in all honesty, Jack didn't know the Kangaroo had such a large group of living statues.
From the end of the line approaching the front of the line. It was more like scurrying, but the point was that Bunnymund was quickly approaching the front of the line shouting out orders to his troops.
"And don't forget to stay close your posts and don't move unless you sense Eros." Bunny started to walk on his hind legs as he reached the front egg, "I have to go set up the others in the remaining locations, but I'll be back later to check on things here."
Jack was jumping from tree to tree, trying to keep Bunny in earshot. He saw Bunny give a salute to the statutes before opening a portal. Jack watched Bunny give one last look at his egg golems, and jumped into the portal.
Being quick on his feet, Jack immediately jumped in after the other guardian. Jack held his staff close to his body as he fell down the rabbit hole, he tried to right himself to stop him from accidentally landing wrong. Of course that didn't work and he ended up popping out of the hole and straight into Bunny.
Bunnymund felt something fall onto him and he went down hard on the ground. He was fazed for a second but quickly pushed the figure off his back, a boomerang in his hand. He was ready to throw it at whoever it was when he finally took noticed of who it was.
"Jack?" Bunny lowered the boomerang, but still held tight to it, "What in the name of Easter are you doing here? For that matter how did you get here in the first place?"
Jack rubbed his head and stood up, he grinned, "I followed you down your little slide. I thought that … we could talk?" In all honesty Jack hadn't really thought about how to handle the situation. His first reaction was to crack a joke and get on the rabbit's nerves a little. But the way North had looked at him, made Jack realize that this wasn't one of those times he could just wing it. It was just too bad he hadn't made a plan.
Bunnymund looks at Jack in disbelief he walks around him, "Look frostbite, I don't have time to deal with you. If you haven't noticed, " He turned waving his boomerang around, "we have a serious problem on our hands."
"Or in your case paws." Jack said, trying to lighten up the mood. Unfortunately Bunny's ears press firmly back and he walks up to Jack.
"There you go! Making cracks about me!"he goes up to Jack, point the boomerang in his face, "I'm just a big furry joke to ya ain't I? Just because I'm a rabbit you think you can just make fun of me huh?!"
Jack backs up a pace, "Look I…."
"I may not be human but I'm still a warrior! I may not look like the rest of you but that doesn't mean I should be treated like some puppy that learned a few cool tricks!" Bunny threw his boomerang, he caught it and held it in his paws, "So what if I'm a giant talking rabbit? I was still chosen like the rest of you. I might not have been human, or ever look human….. but I will still fight for the children of this world. I will stand by all of you and fight. But how am I repaid?" He looked up at Jack, and Jack was shocked by the angry tears falling down the Rabbit's face, "I'm forced to be the butt of your childish jokes, treated like my job isn't as important, and forced to help the woman I love even if she doesn't want me." Jack watched as Bunny looked up to the sunset lit sky, at the moon, "Why me?...WHY!"
Bunny threw the boomerang up towards the sky and fell to his knees, letting his tears fall.
Jack watched as the boomerang fell back down to the ground next to the giant rabbit. He clutched his staff and wished that he seriously planned what to say. He gave the moon one quick look before walking to the guardian. He stuck the staff into the ground and took a seat next to Bunnymund.
Bunnymund wasn't making a sound but his tears slowed, Jack took a quick glance around and realized he had no idea where they were, he wanted to ask but instead he said, "I'm so much younger than the rest of you that sometimes I don't know how to be serious."
Bunny sniffed, Jack continued, " I don't mean to hurt your feelings it's just….. the rest of you treat me like an adult who knows how to act… who knows how to take on responsibilities, and I try so hard to prove to you all that I'm capable of being serious and responsible. I'm still physically a teenager. I know how to make others smile and enjoy life. But…. when things get serious I don't know what to do." He looked down at his hands, "Sometimes I get away with joking around, and that's my go to. I was still just a kid when I was chosen. I never grew up, had a family of my own, got a job, anything. I But I try to impress you all. I try to be strong like North, patient like Sandy, kind like Tooth, and brave like you. And I hope that I make you all proud, even if I slip up once in a while."
He places a hand on Bunny's shoulder and Bunny's tears have stopped as he looks up to Jack. Bunnymund wipes his nose with his paw before looking straight ahead and saying, "Well you have improved… a little."
. Jack smiles and continues, "I aim to please."