Chapter 21

"You're not getting rid of me that easily."

Pitch feels his heart skip a beat at the memory of the teasing grin on Jack's face, her reaching out to grab his hand, their fingers lacing together so easily. They had looked so perfect together, complementary in their coloring, but a contrast in how long his fingers were and how much bigger his hand compared to her's.

It took almost superhuman effort not to hide her away, to not beg her to stay when she was healed up and ready to go back into the world. But Jack is meant to be free, the wind shuttling her to wherever she may wish, and Pitch would respect that, no matter how a part of him urged him to cage her, to keep her always close and safe, regardless of how she felt -

No. He will not be listening to that part of him.

Freefall.

Gods, how Jack has missed this! The wind rushing past her face and howling in her ears, welcoming her back like an old friend. It never fully left her, even during her stay in Pitch's caves - if she wished it would come to her aid, though in such an enclosed space that could get tricky fast, not to mention it was hard to direct without her staff, so she didn't usually ask much of it.

No, all she asks of the wind right now is to play a bit, looping through the sky and corkscrewing into tight dives that she pulled out of at the last possible second, adrenaline rushing through her blood making the experience even more exhilarating.

She's laughing breathlessly, still caught up in the floaty head feeling she gets during night diving, when she sees the golden sand trail. It hovers in the sky, snaking around some houses and through windows while avoiding others completely.

"Ah, Sandy," she says, even though there is no one around to hear her. It's a habit that she isn't sure she will ever break. A thought occurs to her, spurred by the memory of Pitch experimenting with stolen sand. Maybe… she thinks, drifting towards the closest trail. She reaches out towards it, carefully angling her staff away. Who knows whether it was the sand or the shadows that her staff had reacted to before.

The sand trail splits as she touches it, going around her fingers but otherwise not interrupted in its task. Emboldened, Jack trails her fingers through it like she would water. The sand reacts similarly, and she tries to scoop some up in her free hand. It doesn't form a recognizable shape like before, but doesn't stay inert either, shifting restlessly in her palm. "Huh, weird."

"You can say that again."

Jack whips around, sand forgotten and her staff coming up to bear before she stops halfway. "Oh, it's you," she says, somewhat dismissively.

Lantern Hallows, the spirit of All Hallow's Eve, recently (for spirits that is) christened Halloween, rolls his eyes from where he stands on the ground below. "Yes, it's me. Good to see you out and about Frosty."

"Really?" Jack asks, one eyebrow raised. "Last time I saw you you were saying something about how I was going to get eaten."

Hallows shrugs. "Not many tangle with the Bogeyman and live to tell the tale. Didn't want you to become one of them."

"Riiiight," Jack drawls. "It had nothing to do with you being upset about that foot of snow I dropped on your head in Serbia."

"I'm prepared to let bygones be bygones," Hallows dismisses with a wave of his hand. "We're not enemies at any rate, are we Frosty?"

"I dunno, you keep calling me Frosty and we might have a problem, Hollow Head," Jack snarks, twirling her staff upright to rest against her shoulder as she descends to ground level.

Hallows grimaces. "Fair enough. A truce then."

"If that's what you want." Jack says. She cocks her head. "What is it you want? You're not one for pleasantries, and coming from me that's saying something."

"Yes, well. There have been… rumors, you could say." Hallows clears his throat, one corpse gray finger scratching at his cheek in a sheepish manner. "I wanted to see whether they were true."

Jack's eyes narrow. "Okay, now I know something's up. I'm just about the last person anyone would think to gossip with. What are you really after?"

"Not if the rumors are about you," Hallows retorts.

Jack stops, thrown for a moment. "Rumors about me?" she echoes in disbelief.

"Well, you and the Guardians and the Bogeyman." Hallows leans in, one dark eye clouded over, but both sparkling with interest. "Something about them trying to rescue you from the vicious clutches of the Nightmare King, but apparently Mother Nature gave you to him as a peace offering?"

Jack can't help it, she doubles over in laughter. There's so much wrong in that statement that she doesn't even know where to begin. "I mean, there's a kernel of truth in there," she admits after a few long moments, still giggly and attempting to catch her breath. "The Easter Rabbit was looking for Pitch, couldn't find him, then punched me in the face and called it rescuing me."

"He what?" Hallows sounds just as astonished as the other Guardians had been.

"I know, dumb, right?" Jack scoffs. "Asshole woke me up from a good nap too."

"He what?" Hallows repeats, but this time with a hint of glee. "You were napping? In the domain of the spirit whose duty it is to give people bad dreams?"

"Well, when you put it like that it sounds like a bad idea," Jack admits. "Pitch isn't as terrible as you all think he is though."

"Uh-huh, sure." Hallows nods, but going from the wide grin on his face Jack is unsure if he actually agrees with her. "So that part is true then?"

"What part?"

"The part where you're together; the Nightmare King and his shadow bride." The last bit he says with dripping melodrama, obviously enjoying this.

Jack's brain breaks a bit. "The what and the what?" she sputters. "Who... who even comes up with these?"

Hallows shrugs, unrepentant and full of glee, the bastard. "Yetis are terrible gossips, and I know a guy who knows a gal who knows a gal. Is it true though?"

"What, no! Of course not!" Jack denies, the tips of her ears so cold they burn while her cheeks turn lavender. "It's - no, he's not - we're not… No!" We could be, though, a treacherous part of her thinks, remembering every time they've touched, Pitch's reaction to her being hurt, his outburst following her being taken. Just because he's emotionally constipated doesn't mean you have to be.

Hallows just stands there grinning like the annoying trickster he's been acting more and more like as of late. "You sure?" He takes a step back at Jack's glare, ice crackling around her feet as she stalks towards him. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger okay, just remember to invite me to the wedding-!" The last part comes out in a rush as he ducks a swipe from Jack's staff.

"Fuck off!" she yells, and shoots a concentrated beam of ice at him, cursing when he slips away, a trail of turnips and other gourds leaving a haphazard trail where he had been. "Goddamn fucking gossips," she seethes. "Tell all your friends to shut the fuck up too!"

Jack's scowl deepens as she shoots back off into the night, not about to further entertain the gossiping Halloween spirit. She doesn't care what other spirits think about her (much), but she'll be damned if she lets Pitch hear about this from anyone but her.

Looks like she's heading back to his caves earlier than expected, and damn it if she doesn't start getting that floaty feeling again, only this time without the wind.

Hehehehehe, I've been looking forward to this chapter for a while. Next time...

Well, my outline just has the word "KISSING" all in caps and underlined several times, so make of that what you will :3c

The outline for this chapter says "The asshole that is Lantern Hallows makes his on screen debut and he and Jack have a good snark fest that contains Hallows giving Jack the good tea re: her relationship with the Guardians and also Pitch. Jack is not impressed bc a.) fuck all these ppl gossiping and b.) Hallows is a little shit"

My outline is hilarious.