Chapter 11- Cloud Jumping
Surprisingly, Ombric did not kill North for destroying his candle.
Instead, the old man had simply shaked his head at the frozen mess and brought North to the library. That was where the young man could be found over the course of the next month. His time was divided between studying, avoiding getting hit by snowballs, and inventing.
The last one had become a big favourite of North's. Ombric was correct in saying that the man had an aptitude for magic, but the pair soon found out that his real talent lay in creating things from almost nothing. At first, he simply found joy in creating inanimate objects, trinkets and toys that the children of the village adored to look at. But, he soon found out that if he applied a bit of magic, he could make those objects come to life!
Ombric was… mildly concerned at the discovery, fearing that something would explode sooner or later. Katherine loved the inventions, she would giggle and smile as little mechanical butterflies would fly around her head, and little insects would crawl across the floor. Jack, though in awe, had learned not to touch the little objects. It seemed that, after the candle fiasco, things would suddenly freeze at his touch where, previously, he could only do so with his staff.
The poor winter spirit was becoming quite put out over it, and had turned him to brooding in the trees. It was only when North had made a bunch of mechanical birds fly over his head, that the spirit started smiling again. He was still put out, however, and it was not uncommon to see him sitting alone, deep in thought.
Everyone knew that it was something that Jack had to figure out himself, and usually left him as he was. But Ombric would still try to engage him in conversation, trying to figure out how to help. North would regale him with more absurd stories of his adventures across the land. And Katherine would bake cookies and simply sit by him as she read. Eventually, he did begin to bounce back, but he would still be careful about what he touched and fly off to be on his own sometimes. They knew he would be alright, and he was thankful for their support.
It was halfway through the month that North got a brilliant idea. Well, he called it a brilliant idea, but no one knew exactly what it was. The young man had been given his own private space as his workshop, and soon began to spend more and more time down there. People would hear loud bangs as they passed, as well as a few vulgar words. Smoke also became a common smell down there as well.
Eventually, at the end of the month, North proudly stated that he had finished his great project. The residents of Big Root had gathered outside as the excited young mad stood behind something very large covered in a white cloth.
"Now," he started, "As you know, I have been working on a little project as of late, and am now hereby proud to present you my greatest invention yet!"
With great flourish, he pulled off the large white cloth to reveal… a giant metal… man?
"Behold!" North cried. "The Djini!"
Katherine clapped enthusiastically, as Omcric and Jack looked on in apprehension.
Jack snorted. "You call that little?"
North pouted at the winter spirit, as Ombric stepped up to get a closer look. "What is it supposed to do?"
North turned to the elder man. "Well, I thought that perhaps we could use with something else to help further protect the village. The idea is that we all put a personal belonging inside the Djini so that it recognises us. If someone it doesn't recognise shows up, it will not let them through. If that stranger attacks, then the Djini will respond in kind."
Ombric hummed in appreciation. After the little… fiasco they had last month, Ombric had been reinforcing the wards around Santoff Claussen. The spirit of the forest had also been warned to stay on further guard for anything suspicious. The bear had, thankfully, recovered from its little ordeal and had begun to start snarling at anything that seemed remotely dangerous. The poor rabbits that lived in the forest were more than terrified.
After a while, the wizard spoke up. "But does it work?"
Now, that was the question, wasn't it? "Well, I haven't exactly tested it out yet so…"
They fell into silence for a small while, before Katherine gave a suggestion. "Why don't we see if we can get it to recognise everyone first? That way, we can at least see if it wont start randomly attacking everyone in sight."
Deciding that that was the best plan, the four decided to tell everyone in the village. The Djini was not currently awake, and simply sat in silence as everyone gave a small item that they owned.
North nearly cried when Katherine showed him the picture of the two of them, so that it would recognise them both. He also suggested that she add in both Jack and Ombric, so that all four of them would be in it. Chipper as ever, she heartily agreed.
Though he had not known them long, he had become very close to the residents of Big Root. Ombric was his mentor, but also looked out for them in a parental way. Katherine was the little sister that everyone doted on and looked after. Jack was like a brother to North, teasing, but not mean and always playing a prank or two on anyone in the house. North was the elder brother to the younger two, joining in on the pranks with them sometimes and often playing one on them himself. Yes, they were like one very strange family. But it worked for them, and that was all that mattered.
Everyone cheered in delight when the Djini came to life at North's order. He explained that as long as it was actually possible, the Djini would do anything they asked. So no, Fog, that did not mean it could turn your sister into a frog whenever she became annoying.
Soon, the Djini became a part of everyday life, helping people in any way it could. Anything anyone asked of it, it would do diligently and without fail.
The children adored it, usually asking for absurd things that usually were not possible for it to do. North had to intervene when Sascha had asked the Djinni to carry her all the way to Africa.
Yes, they would have to be careful about things like that.
Unfortunately, he was not able to intervene during the next incident. A week had passed since the Djini had joined them, and Katherine had finally plucked up the courage to give a request.
She knew that North would be very against this, and thus decided to do it when he was looking after Petrov, who had been given his very own stable.
"Djini." She looked up at it with big eyes. "I want you to throw me as high as you can into the air, and then catch me safely."
The metal man inclined its head. "As you command."
It just so happened that North was coming around the bend as soon as the little girl had jumped into the Djini's arms. Realising only too late what was about to happen, North could only watch in despair as the girl soon went flying up beyond the clouds, soon becoming an invisible little speck in the sky.
He was so, so dead.
{~}
Of all things to happen, Nightlight did not expect to be joined by a young girl in the clouds that day. Or any day, for that matter.
However, the spectral boy had soon come to learn that his expectations were going to be constantly challenged, especially by the residents of Santoff Claussen. If you asked him, he would swear whole heartedly that it was a village filled with madmen.
Ever since he had remembered his name, Nightlight had divided his time between hunting down fearlings and watching over the strange village. During the former, he came across many people. The Small Ones would hit each other with sticks and play with dolls. The Tall Ones would work and watch over the Small Ones, making sure they didn't get into trouble. Wherever he went, they all acted the same, whether they were in big fancy houses with nice clothes, or small wooden huts wearing rags. The behaviour was all the same.
Santoff Claussen, however, was not an ordinary village.
The Tall Ones did work and watch over the Small Ones, but there was just something so off. Usually, whenever he was near the Tall Ones, he felt the sudden urge to disappear, to hide and make sure they didn't see him. But these Tall Ones? He felt none of that. There was something kind and bright about them, almost as if they were still children in a way.
He didn't like it when things felt off.
The Small Ones were different in a good way. They still smiled and played like normal, but Nightlight had soon noticed something else. Whilst other Small Ones played with sticks and dolls, these Small Ones played with magic.
He had seen traces of magic and spirits all over this strange world, but Santoff Claussen was the only place he had seen mortals using it.
And it wasn't used lightly either. It was being constantly wielded by anyone and everyone, like it was something that was completely ingrained into their lifestyle. He believed it might be, in fact.
He had also come to realise that some of the residents were particularly strong in their magic. Specifically those that lived in the giant tree.
The one in red, named North, he had learned, was the least experienced in using it. The young man had only seemed to have recently arrived at the village, and was thus learning the basics of magic. However, he seemed to be in the business of inventing. More often than not, Nightlight found himself covering his ears from the loud booms that could be heard from his direction. The young man was usually covered in burn marks and smelt of smoke.
The wizard, Ombric, seemed to be the most powerful. He would have an answer for almost anything, giving advice and scolding the Small Ones for their pranks. He seemed older than all the others, and he certainly looked it. But to Nightlight, he felt very young.
The spirit, Jack Frost, was even more unusual. His magic was different from the others, entirely elemental, but that was to be expected. When Nightlight first encountered the spirit, he seemed to have quite good control over his powers. Now, however, not only had he lost control, but he had also grown stronger. It was such a sudden change that Nightlight was not certain if it was the same spirit or not. Two minutes later that may have involved a snowball fight, he decided that no, this was certainly the same spirit.
Katherine, the little girl, was the most interesting. Though not as powerful as Ombric and Jack, the yellow clad girl had lots of control. She had been practicing often, and only took her a few tries before mastering a spell. Thus far, her only limit seemed to be her strength. Nightlight had no doubt that she would become very powerful very quickly.
Putting all four of them together, Nightlight was surprised that that giant tree had not burned to the ground just yet.
The past month, Nightlight had been watching all of them moving around their days, invisible to everyone. Truly, he was shocked that not even the wizard had noticed his presence yet.
When the Djini had arrived, he watched as all sorts of things happened. He found it rather amusing about how flustered all the adults had become when one of the Small Ones nearly got carried all the way to another country.
It had just so happened that on one particular day, he found himself lounging on a cloud. There were no fearlings around for the moment, and was feeling a bit bored.
He had been considering flying off to go play with a few moonbeams when a yellow blur flew past him with a great whoosh. When the blur slowed, he was soon able to make out the shape of a Small One.
A yellow Small One who was specifically named Katherine.
Had he been paying attention, Nightlight might have noticed the Djini standing below, ready to catch the girl as she fell. Except he didn't, and, without much thought, the spectral boy held out his hands to catch the dark haired girl.
She fell into his waiting arms easily, a shocked expression on her face. She was a lot heavier than she looked, but Nightlight held her steady. When she recovered from her initial shock of being caught, Katherine looked up at him.
Grey eyes met luminescent green, as the two stood alone up in the clouds.
{~}
Katherine had believed it was a smart idea. She was wrong.
Perhaps she should have thought that asking the Djini to throw her up into the air would not be safe, but she never believed she would go beyond the clouds!
It was exhilarating at first, the feeling of flying. She loved it!... until she started to go down.
She knew she had asked the Djini to catch her, but that didn't stop the panic settling in as soon as gravity took hold.
Yet, she wasn't falling long before she felt a pair of arms catch her. The first thing she noticed was the white hair, making her immediately think of Jack. But it was only when her eyes met the piercing green of the one holding her, did she recognise him.
Nightlight looked as shocked as she felt, and for a few long moments, the two were silent. Then, ever so slowly, the spectral boy lowered her down. She feared that she was about to fall for a second time, before her feet landed on something very soft and bouncy.
Looking down, she noticed that she was standing on a cloud!
She jumped up and down on it for a bit, enjoying how springy it was. When she looked back up, she realised that Nightlight was smiling at her. Looking at him, she recalled the night when they first met.
"Nightlight," She began. The boy looked slightly startled at the use of his name, and she wondered how long it had been since anyone had properly used it apart from Seraphina. "I wanted to thank you, for saving me when we first met. And for when you showed up the last time as well." She added the last part, remembering the day when Pitch had shown up.
The boy raised an eyebrow, and then waved his free hand as if to say 'don't worry about it.' Katherine then also realised that he was still holding her hand. Perhaps that is what's keeping me afloat on this cloud, she thought.
What was truly shocking, was when Nightlight shook his head as if to disagree with her thoughts. She quickly banished the idea though, as that couldn't be right.
She cleared her throat. "What… uh, have you been up to?" Wow. Good job Katherine, you aren't making this awkward at all.
Why did you ask that? She mentally questioned herself. Seraphina told you that he doesn't talk much, if at all.
Now Nightlight was giving her a really weird look. Is he actually reading my mind?
The spectral boy gave her another weird look, and then nodded. He looked as if he hadn't known this himself.
Katherine began screaming in her mind. Now what do I do? Every embarrassing thing I think will just be up for him to know no matter how I try to hide it. Ahhhhh this is weird!
Meanwhile, unwillingly listening in on Katherine's internal rant, Nightlight was waving his hands for her to calm down. It wasn't like he meant to do it! As soon as he touched her, he just suddenly started hearing her thoughts.
Katherine was too far into her mind to realise that Nightlight had let go of her hand, or that she had stumbled back so far that she began to slip off of the cloud.
Before she could fall completely back, however, Nightlight quickly zoomed forward, grabbing one of her hands, with the other supporting her back. The two were even closer together than before, making Katherine turn bright red. She tried to keep her mind quiet as he lifted her back up.
"Sorry." She apologised. "I freaked out a bit there."
The look on his face said 'really? I hadn't noticed.' He let go of her hand again, as he gave her an apologetic smile. She felt as if she could almost feel the guilt coming from him. Strange…
Her mind raced up, and she quickly realised that she had been up there for quite a while. Everyone down on the ground who might have seen me flying up probably thinks I'm still going.
Nightlight, hearing this, got an alarmed expression on his face, before looking like he was trying to stifle his laughter at the thought.
She couldn't help but giggle herself. "That poor Djini is probably still waiting for me to come back down."
Nightlight looked thoughtful for a while, before gaining a twinkle in his eyes. He looked to Katherine and held out his hand.
After staring at it for a while, she silently took it, only to be pulled along into a run by the boy. At every gap between the clouds, he would take a great leap, guiding the two across the white sea. Katherine started to laugh, and Nightlight smiled brightly at the sound.
Higher and higher the jumps became, neither letting go of the others hand. Soon, instead of running, the two were just jumping their way across the clouds, laughing and smiling as they went.
Katherine didn't have time to think or ponder on anything that was happening, having too much fun to either question or object to it.
The two were cloud jumping for hours, neither noticing as the time went by. Further away, and unseen to the pair, a winter spirit watched on with a smile on his face.
I'm sorry this took a while, I had two essays to write this weekend.
I will probably go back and re-write this chapter at some point, It's really rushed. But I wanted to get something out soon, and I did quite enjoy writing this.
Anyway, I am extremely tired, so I shall stop waffling now.
Enjoy!
~Mysstltaiin