~Of Groundings and Rebellion~

Jack woke to strange surroundings. He was lying on a large, red couch, a sack still wrapped around his lower body. He took a sniff at it and coughed, it reeked of coliform. He must have passed out after he had been shoved inside it. He kicked it off, cursing himself.

"What is it with North and throwing me in sacks?" He asked, remembering the first time he was shoved into a bag by a yeti.

He looked around, trying to recognize the room he was in. It was a very nice room with a large and spacious circular floor plan, a high ceiling. Jack guessed that it was a tower room from the shape of the walls. There were cozy chairs, sofas, and many rugs on the floor. There was an old VCR in the corner with a huge stack of old Christmas cartoons from the 20s and up to the early 50s. There was a crackling fire in the corner and it was burning brightly with a sliver kettle over it (Filled with hot chocolate Jack guessed) and a plate of large cookies sat nearby. And even though the room looked warm and cozy it was surprisingly cold, which made Jack hope there was an open window somewhere. Maybe he could sneak out, and actually do something. There were children in need, and his best friend was down in Pitch's tunnels. But he didn't see an open window. In fact…. He didn't see any windows….

He sprung up from the sofa, grabbing his staff from off the floor. There were no windows! But the part that startled him the most was the fact that there wasn't only the absence of windows, but there was no door as well.

Jack immediately ran to the nearest wall. He searched for a notch in the wood, a dent in the wall that could show the door was just covered. But there was nothing. He went around every wall, pulling back picture frames and pulling on the light fixtures, like they do in the spy movies when they are searching for a secret door. But the walls remained solid.

"Let me out!" Jack yelled, his fists angrily pounding on the empty wall space. He ran over to the nearest table and flipped it over, his emotions becoming even more out of control. Panic, anger, and bitterness pumped in his veins. He had been locked away like a child because he had disobeyed. And if the other guardians wanted him to act like a child, then so be it.

He yelled and threw objects at the walls, trying to reveal where the door was hidden. And if he couldn't get out he just wanted to be heard. He wanted to let the others know he wasn't giving up so easily. He used his staff to fire blasts of cold at the walls and ceiling, and within minutes every surface in the room was covered in frost. He could feel his emotions were causing a storm around the tower he was in. That made him smile; now everyone would know he was trying to escape, that he hadn't given in. He kicked and punched, leaving small dents in the drywall. He yelled and blasted for what seemed like hours.

In other words, he threw a tantrum. And he kept on screaming and blasting until his energy was drained and his voice was hoarse.

As soon as his emotions gave way, he gained some sense and stopped. He slowly collapsed on a broken chair (Was it a chair? He couldn't tell anymore) in a tired heap, his body aching. Why had they done this to him? Why now? And why had he spoken out against them like that? He should have known this would have happened.

But still, he had to get out; he had to DO something. He couldn't just sit around; they were running out of time. But the guardians wouldn't listen to him, not a single one. Well, except Katherine. She seemed to have listened to him. She had said she had had a plan. But a plan for what? Did she mean a plan for the other guardians, or for Jack and her alone?

Jack sighed and leaned back on the frosted chair . He had managed to get himself into the darkness again, helpless and useless. He had probably snuffed out almost every light bulb in the room with his ice blasts. How had he managed to get out of that dark tunnel earlier today?

Jack's head snapped up. "Of course!"

He dug his hand into his sweatshirt pocket. He had almost forgotten the tooth! But what good would it do him now? Maybe he could use it to bargain his freedom, demand being let go for the tooth. At that ridiculous thought he laughed out loud.

"Jack you have lost it," He said. "Thinking about using a tooth to bargain your freedom."

He stuck his hand in his pocket and was relieved to find the tooth was still there, even if he couldn't use it to help him out of this mess. But as he pulled it out of the sweater he realized it was much too big to be a tooth.

And was it…. moving?

Jack's eyes widened as his fingers parted, revealing a small bundle of beautifully colored feathers.

"Baby Tooth?" He whispered, stunned.

The small fairy opened her eyes; she had clearly been asleep (Although how she had been able to sleep through his tantrum, Jack didn't know). Her arms were wrapped around Monty's tooth as if it was a teddy bear. She must have miraculously stowed away into his pocket when no one was looking, sensing the tooth inside. Jack laughed aloud as she started chirping away, standing up in the palm of his hand. She flittered around his head, her eyes bright and excited. They hadn't seen each other for a while, she was always so busy collecting teeth. Then her expression grew serious as she looked about the room and saw where they were.

Jack looked about a little guiltily. The remains of the room were now large broken pieces of furniture, frost, and a collapsed chandelier. Baby Tooth looked up at him with a look of questioning, like she was worried about his sanity. Then she chirped something that sounded like a question; maybe she was wondering why he wasn't out helping the others, or why he was locked up in here.

Jack chuckled. "Did you think you were going to be a stowaway on a great adventure, or a battle charge into Pitch's caves?" He asked. "Well sorry to disappoint, but you were better off with Tooth and the others. The two of us aren't going to be seeing any kind of action for a while.

"Well-" He yawned. "At least now I have company."

He smiled and Baby Tooth smiled back at him, her pearly whites gleaming. "I don't know how long I'm trapped in here," Jack rolled his eyes. "Or as North prefers it: 'How long I' m going to be grounded'."

Baby tooth laughed at him and gave him a 'what am I going to do with you look', and Jack's heart lifted at the sound. Then the petite creature let out a long yawn, stretching her arms above her head.

"Still tired?" Jack asked.

She nodded.

"Yeah, I bet you never get to sleep." Jack smiled. "Well, I guess a little shut eye never hurt anybody. Its not like we're going to miss anything," He joked. Then he curled up on the chair, Baby Tooth still in his hands. And the winter spirit fell asleep once again. He just prayed that when he awoke he could find a way out of this mess he had gotten himself into.

***********

"… Jack…

"Jaaackkk….

"JACK."

The winter sprite sat up with a jolt. "GAH!" He gasped.

"SHHHHHH!" A voice urged him.

Jack recognized that voice.

He looked to his right and found a particularly familiar face: Grey eyes, red hair, small lips.

It was Katherine.

He grinned mischievously. "You clever girl." He whispered.

She laughed. "Did you ever doubt me?" She asked quietly.

"Well…." Jack said, suddenly feeling very quiet. Katherine shoved him, hard. "No! Not for a second!" He added quickly.

She rolled her eyes and pushed him away from her. "Sure." She said sarcastically. "But come on, no time for small talk. We don't have much time."

Jack knew what that meant. She was busting him out.

He smiled childishly. "I knew I could count on you."

She smiled back at him, giving him a short wink and a smirk.

"Here- put this on." She said

She threw a large bundle of clothing at him, and he caught it with both his hands. She then kneeled down to the ground, rummaging through a backpack she had, and giving him privacy to change.

The bundle was clearly stolen from North's storages. He looked down and realized how dirty and torn his sweatshirt really was. He looked like an immortal snow hobo.

The clothing was a beautiful blue, royal and crisp. It was almost the same shade of his demolished sweatshirt, but it seemed even bluer. He unraveled it and found it was a cloak, much longer than the brown one he had ditched years ago but it still had the same design, two layers of fabric. His old cloak was safe in burgess though, he still couldn't let it go.

As soon as he touched the cloak frosted designs began to climb and spiral about the edges, giving it a special touch. He held it in front of him. It swept all the way to his knees, but it was really light.

He pulled his destroyed hoodie over his head, discarding it on the floor. Then he took the cloak, tying it around his neck. He pulled up the hood, smiling.

"How do I look?" He asked, mysteriously flapping his cloak around him.

She paused and looked at him, nodding. "Not too shabby. Much better than that hoodie though, it made you look like a delinquent teenager."

"But, I am a delinquent teenager," Jack smirked.

Katherine rolled her eyes and returned to looking through her bag.

Jack suddenly heard a faint noise, a strange squeak coming from his destroyed sweatshirt. The pile started to shake, and out emerged a grumpy looking Baby Tooth, her eyes flaming as she held Monty's tooth under one arm.

"Opps!" Jack chocked, trying to hold back his laughter at the sight of her crazy bed-head (Or bed-feather) hair. She flew up to his face and wagged her finger in anger, before suddenly taking interest in his outfit. She circled around his new cloak, giving a thoughtful nod of approval. She then flew up to Jack's shoulder (Her favorite place to perch) and remained silent, perhaps giving him the silent treatment.

Jack walked over to Katherine. "Now what?" He said, leaning over her.

Katherine looked up from her work. She seemed to have been packing a small backpack, the contents spread on the floor: A pocketknife, some maps, food bundles, a thermos, a compass, flint and steel, a blanket, a matchbox, rope, a odd looking whistle, and something strange that caught his eye. Some of the flowers that had surrounded Nightlight's memorial that night were wrapped in a handkerchief, still glowing with the moon's light. But Jack didn't question, knowing that their time was short.

"Sit," She said. "I need to fill you in."

Jack sat.

Katherine sighed, preparing herself for the long story ahead. "Well, because you're 'grounded', we are going to have to make a change in plans. I didn't think you were going to stand up to them like that; I would have stopped you if I had known," She held the bridge of her nose in aggravation. "But now we just have to work with it.

"Well, we probably have 6 minutes to get out of here," She said. "Security is tighter than ever. I found a tunnel in the west corridor that hasn't been blocked off, but it had a few yetis guarding it. But I drugged them with some eggnog, and they'll be out all night. The tunnel will lead us a few miles away, then we can get out and you can fly us the rest of the way."

"Um, alrighty then," Jack said, ecstatic to get out of the room (But secretly, he was most excited about breaking a few of North's rules). "So, where's the door?" He asked sheepishly.

Katherine sighed. "Jack. This is a tower. How could there be a door on the walls? You can only go down and up," She pointed to the floor by his chair, where a rug used to be. There was a trap door, stairs leading into the darkness.

"Oh…" He said, feeling stupid. "I knew that."

Katherine stood up, throwing her pack over her shoulder. "Ready?" She asked.

Jack nodded, feeling more than ready. "Yeah, sounds good. But I just have one question though…. Where are we going?"

Katherine slapped her forehead. "I knew I was forgetting something!"

"Are we going to save Nightlight?" Jack asked hopefully.

Katherine shook her head. "Maybe, if we have time." She said. "There is somewhere else I need to go first." She pointed to a spot on the map Jack didn't recognize. "I have a feeling that one of my old friends will know the answers to our questions," She said, pulling a small map out of her bag. "This is Eastern Siberia, also known as modern day Russia," She said, pointing to a small village on her map in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a star.

"We need to go to Santoff Claussen."

~End of Part One~