NORTH!

Oh and Happy really late Easter!

Sorry, I meant to post this last Sunday but my computer broke down… I think I have gremlins in my house because my TV stopped working this morning and my sister's iPod deleted all of her music… either that or some of North's elves have been playing with my electronics…

North merely stared at the newcomer, trying to take it all in. Had Jack just said that the dragon was in the work shop? He looked up to face the other guardians to see sheepish smiles and darting eyes. Did they not just hear the winter spirit? The dragon was in the workshop.

Looking at the girl, North could tell that Bunny's theory about the creature taking a human form was correct. He didn't care if the other guardians ignored the problem obviously at hand, he wasn't about to let Jack get himself killed by this thing.

"Wait North!" Jack called out fearfully just as the large man unsheathed his twin swords, aiming them at the small redhead. The girl's large green eyes widened instantly. Giving a high squeak, the dragon-girl ran and hid behind the human boy who stood in front of her protectively as if he could have done anything against the large man and his swords.

North ignored the winter spirit, stomping over to where the dragon-girl was shaking with obvious fear when something blocked his path. "Bunny, out of the way." He ordered, grabbing the Pooka by the shoulder and pushing him to the side aggressively. Was Bunny trying to protect this thing?

The large rabbit didn't move, holding North's hand to keep the burly man from progressing on his sudden rampage through the workshop. "Hold up Mate, it's not what you think." He explained, using one of his furry grey paws to ease North's clenched fists back to his sides. The dragon's wide eyes never left the swords.

North looked up at the Pooka, raising a bushy eyebrow in slight annoyance, did he know what this was? They had gotten the dragon to the North Pole, the very creature that wanted their Jack dead. So why were the other Guardians protecting it?

Clenching his jaw tightly, North tuned to face Jack who somehow looked more pale than usual. The winter spirit flinched instantly, looking up at the man with a guilty smile. "Jack?" North started, motioning towards the dragon-girl who had begun to look about the workshop in wonder yet again as if seeing a man charging at her with twin swords had never even crossed her mind, seeming suddenly oblivious to the conversation centering about her.

Jack cleared his throat, his eyes flickering down to the floor and his staff bumping against his knee steadily with panic. "Um, okay so you know how we made that deal where I wouldn't leave the Pole for a week?" He started, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. North nodded. "Well I snuck out." He finished, so quickly that North wasn't quite sure he had caught it all at first.

"What?!" North cried, looking to all the other guardians for the same reaction only to see that they looked perfectly accepting of the news. Sure jack wasn't one to usually follow the rules, but this was just ridiculous. The boy had snuck out with a blood thirsty killer after him and the others merely sat there watching, as if Jack had already told them before him.

North's face dropped and the swords in his hands faltered, dropping several inches as the fact that all of the other guardians had been trusted with this news except for him. Did jack really not see him as trustworthy enough to tell him this news? Or was he afraid he would be in trouble. That thought was almost worse. Just the thought of having Jack fear him made North's heart want to burst with sorrow and guilt.

Tooth must've noticed the sadness filling the old man's heart because she fluttered forward and placed a small hand on his shoulder. "North we didn't know until just recently either." Tooth explained softly, gesturing towards the others with her extra hand.

Sandy nodded in agreement and Bunny stepped forward as well. "Yeah, we figured it out ourselves mate, the only reason he told Tooth was because we forced him to." He explained. Jack winced at this.

"Yeah, thanks a lot." Another voice had joined in on the conversation and all guardians and dragon turned to the human boy as he grumbled, feeling a spot on his jaw line with is hand as if their conversation had suddenly reminded him of a forgotten pain. Both Jack and the dragon-girl rolled their eyes at this.

North shook his head and looked back at the fidgeting winter spirit. "Jack, what do you mean 'snuck out'?" He asked warily.

Jack looked down at his hands, picking the wood on his staff nervously. It seemed like hours before the boy actually opened his mouth to speak. "I was tired of you guys treating me like I wasn't part of the group." He mumbled before finally looking up to meet North's sad eyes. The other three guardians shied back in guilt.

"So I left to look for the dragon and found Eden instead." Jack said a bit louder, gesturing to the redhead, catching her attention and pulling her away from the mechanical jellyfish floating just above her. She smiled sheepishly, raising a small hand as if to wave towards the burly man in front of her.

North looked away quickly, seeing the girl slump slightly in the corner of his eye. "Instead?" He pressed, crossing his massive tattooed arms and eyeing the winter spirit.

Jack nodded quickly at this. "Well Eden is a dragon, but she doesn't want to kill me. She's my friend." He finished, eyeing North with a suddenly dangerous glare which startled the man, seeing the boy avoiding his gaze only to turn in a matter of seconds and stare at him threateningly like this.

The dragon-girl stepped forward, seeming to startle everyone except for the human boy who merely crossed his arms as if he was about to sit back and watch a show. "I wouldn't hurt Jack, honestly. There's something else out there." The girl said, and it was then North noticed just how nervous the girl was. Despite her straightened back and confident voice, he could see her knees quivering under pressure and her fingers were tightly knotted together in anticipation.

Her bright green eyes darted across the room, landing on each of the spirits and every toy littering the floor before finally freezing at North. "Then what was the message from Manny about?" North asked, still wary of the stranger in his workshop. "If what girl says is true, then what did fire message mean?"

Jack shrugged sheepishly. "Well…" He began, turning to the redhead.

"There's another dragon." She stated flatly.

North raised an eyebrow, did she really think North was this gullible, to allow this monster into his workshop and tell him that there was a second dragon? It was hard enough to believe that there was one dragon not yet extinct, but two? How dense did she really think the guardians were?

North turned to the others for encouragement and was absolutely baffled to find that they all looked as if they bought the entire story. Seeing as though none of his fellow guardians was going to bring up the issue, North pressed on.

"How? Dragon's are supposed to be extinct, one dragon I can see being overlooked, but two?" North scoffed, raising his swords once more.

The girl stumbled back a bit, almost tripping over an elf who had wandered in with a plate of cookies which the human boy had instantly grabbed four cookies off of, shoving them into his mouth and giving a tentative thumbs up to the elf who merely stared in awe at the boy who ate one of the elf-made cookies.

The girl shook her head, red curls tumbling off of her shoulders. "I don't know. I thought I was the only one until a few years ago." She said.

"What happened a few years ago?" Tooth asked, suddenly interested.

"She tried to kill Eden." The human stated, flinging a thumb at his friend before taking a bite from another burnt and undetectable flavored cookie. He then turned his gaze to his feet where three of the elves had gathered around, holding up new mangled and crumbling cookies up to the boy. "What are you doing?" He asked indigently, trying to throw one of them who had clung to his pants.

"How come?" Bunny asked as Sandy materialized a golden question mark above his head. Apparently they didn't know everything about the dragon-girl, which made North a little more relaxed.

The girl shrugged. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Tooth repeated.

"How could ya not know?" Bunny said suspiciously. It was obvious that North wasn't the only one who didn't trust this girl.

"Sorry, never thought to ask her as she tried to tear out my throat." She retorted, hands flinging up in mock humor while Jack chuckled. "All I know is that she hates me and apparently Jack now." She finished, seeming to have relaxed a bit since she had first arrived at the Pole.

"So… what now?" Jack asked.

North eyed the girl once more. Looking at the wide green eyes, he searched for anything that could possibly be threatening. But all that the man could find in those wide green eyes was worry, worry of what though? Was she afraid the guardians would turn their backs on her, of course that had been North's first response, but now that he could truly see her for what she was… she was nothing but a child.

North sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand before turning back to jack. "You should all stay here." He declared.

"WHAT!?" Bunny cried in pure shock. The small amount of hope that had fluttered upon the girl's face fell instantly at the rabbit's response. Bunny stepped back, a look of guilt flushing his face. "Not that I have anything against them bein here." He caught himself quickly, looking a bit more relieved when Eden looked up at him. "But they're not invisible like us mate. They've got people who will notice them if they go missin."

"Well how long are we proposing they stay?" Tooth asked.

North shook his head. "As soon as this threat disappears." He answered.

"They're on Winter break anyway right?" Jack asked, hope filling his eyes to the brim.

Eden nodded. "Only for the next week or so though."

"That'll have to do for now, but won't someone notice you're gone?" Asked Bunny.

"Well, my mom would but-"

"She can come too." Jack exclaimed. "I mean having a dragon as a daughter probably means she believes anyway right?"

Eden nodded, a small smile escaping her lips and curling upward toward her eyes. "What about Daniel? Does he have to stay too?" She asked.

Tooth fluttered forward. "If the dragon is really as ferocious as you say then I think it's best that anyone who could be used against you is here and safe."

"Will anyone notice he's gone?"

Eden shook her head. "He's at my house all the time anyway." She said. She turned to her friend for confirmation to find nothing where Daniel had once been standing. A look of confusion replaced the excitement in an instant as she took a full 360 look about the room. "Where is Daniel?"

The large wooden door to the room slammed open and the human boy in question came running through, slamming it shut behind him and leaning against the dark wood. Upon seeing the six pairs of eyes staring back at him, not to mention the yetis who had turned from their work stations at the loud bang, he stared fearfully at North. "What kind of elves are those Dude? They tried to electrocute me!"

North chuckled. "You test elf cookies, you test elf toys." He explained to the boy's horror.

A loud bang sounded against the other side of the door and the boy scrambled away and ducked behind the redhead. "Those are not elves, they're demons!"

YAY!

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