Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Winter Child!" =D Sadly, I do not have much to say this time around, so I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! =)

~ VI ~

The Little Mimicker

Speaking came naturally

Now that he could form words

He repeated those that he heard

Without knowing their purport

So one had to be careful

About what they said

For Jack would parrot them

Until sunset

…

Jack had started repeating words.

The little boy was beyond ecstatic now that he could form a word or phrase. Sometimes he'd go on for days repeating a word that he found amusing. Pineapple. Screwdriver. Rabbit. Violet. Colorful. Grainy. Birthday. Strange. Wonderful. Snowflake. Great, great, great.

Jack had always been a talker, but now that he could form real words, he could pose a short conversation. His baby speech remained when it came to pronunciation; he had trouble rolling his Rs, and the letter L was frequently replaced with W ("Snowfwake!"). But Jack was slowly learning how to speak, and the Guardians were rather proud of the snow sprite's progress.

North, Tooth, Sandy, and Bunny all found Jack's repetition of words quite amusing. Sometimes he'd say something completely random while they were in conversation, eliciting a few laughs. But soon, the repetition began to become a bit of a problem…Jack parroted anything and everything. Even though he didn't know what those words meant. Jack didn't go out much, but sometimes he said words that the Guardians knew wouldn't be acceptable in public. So, they made sure to be careful what they said around Jack. But even though they were cautious with their speech, a few things managed to slip into the bairn's pointed ears.

When Jack first began to mimic phrases, it was when North was tucking him in for the night. It had been a long, tiring day for both the ex-Cossack and little snow sprite. Jack accompanied North all over Santoff Claussen, first visiting each of the Guardians and then stopping by Big Root to drop off borrowed books from Ombric. Jack had worn a hat to conceal his white hair and ears, which he didn't like much. But the day was a whirlwind, so Jack hardly had any time to complain.

Jack yawned, and North gently laid him down. He pulled the light blue blanket over the little boy, and said, "Goodnight, moy mal'chik," like he always did. To his surprise, Jack repeated him.

"G-Goodnight, m-moy mal'chik," said Jack. He spoke slowly so he wouldn't mix up the pronunciation and letters. North smiled and chuckled that Jack had just called him his boy. He then ran a hand through Jack's hair until the baby snow sprite fell asleep.

…

About three days later, North was working in the study. Jack was contently playing on his blanket with his toys nearby. The winter child was once again creating a block tower. Thanks to Aster, he now knew how to properly make a tower without it falling, and Jack had grown even more attached to the colorful cubes. Jack first constructed a foundation, and then placed his cubes in the form of a pyramid-like shape. Once the tower was complete, the little boy laughed triumphantly. He'd then knock the tower over, and start all over again.

North found himself wondering quite often if Jack would ever tire of his blocks. Jack usually got bored with his toys if he played with them too often. But it seemed like the blocks would remain his top favorite for a while. As Jack proceeded to rebuild his tower, North geared his focus back to the dispenser that he was building. The gears, belts, and overall shape of the machine were in place. There was only one part missing: the funnel. The incumbent item sat on the work table next to North. It was rather cumbersome, so North hadn't moved it since he had brought it home.

The ex-Cossack didn't think that it'd be challenging to install. Despite the heaviness of the piece, all he had to do was place it on top of the contraption, and it would be complete. North lifted the funnel from the table. Unfortunately, he had forgotten how heavy it was. And how easily it dropped from one's hands. The tube slipped right out of North's hands, and it landed right on his boot. Right on his foot. The funnel was made of metal, so fiery pain exploded from North's left foot. North let out a pained shout, and Jack jumped in surprise. A bolt of ice shot out of his hands, knocking down his blocks and sticking themselves to the wall.

The funnel had cracked when it hit the floor, miffing North. It had taken him a while to place the order for that piece, and now he had broken it. Drat!

"Ah, Shostakovich!" North said angrily. Jack's sprite ears twitched and he looked up at North, blinking. The blue-eyed man turned to Jack, noticing the partially frozen wall and spilled blocks on the floor. North sighed, and he walked up to the little boy.

"Sorry, moy mal'chik. I didn't mean to scare you," apologized North. He bent down in front of Jack, who smiled at him lightly. From just that smile, North knew that the boy had forgiven him. The ex-Cossack smiled, and he rubbed his thumb against Jack's cheek. The winter child grabbed it, wrapping his stubby fingers around the rough appendage. North had noticed that Jack had begun to take on weight since he had found him. The snow sprite was well-fed every day, and Aster's medicines had helped strengthen him too. Jack was much healthier from when he had first uncovered him in the woods. This made North smile even wider.

"How about we start lunch?" North said. He needed a break from inventing for the day. And he had to tend to his perhaps injured foot.

"Lunch!" Jack said enthusiastically. North grinned and he lifted him, limping to the kitchen.

…

A few days later, Aster stopped by North's place. Thankfully, it was a much warmer day, and spring had come into full swing. Aster dawdled during his walk to North's just to enjoy the warm weather. Eventually, he quickened his pace, since he was wearing a long jacket and obscuring had that began to grow stuffy under the warm sun.

The door to North's house was unlocked, so Aster pushed it open. "Anyone home?" he called.

"I'm in the back!" North hollered. Aster stepped inside, shut the door, hung his jacket and hat, and headed to the back of the house. Aster entered the study where North was hunched over a broken safe. Next to his desk on the floor was Jack, who had a blanket tied around his neck, giving him the appearance of a heroic character.

Aster smiled. "Are ya supposed ta be a superhero?" he asked.

Jack smiled and he nodded. "Whoosh!" Shortly after, the winter child's eyes began to flutter. Jack yawned, and he rubbed his eyes.

North chuckled. "It's almost his naptime," he said. The ex-Cossack turned to Aster. "What can I do for you, Bunny?"

"It's Aster," said Aster with a small frown. North shrugged, and the Pooka continued. "Anyway…Remember that storm that hit a few days back?"

North nodded. He remembered that storm vividly. It was full of booming thunder and sudden flashes of lightning. The ex-Cossack spent half the night calming Jack down. The winter child had been so fretful during the storm, and it had been difficult for him to fall asleep due to the thunderous cacophony and roaring winds.

"Yeah, well…A branch fell on my cottage during the crazy winds, and now there's a bloody hole in my roof." Aster crossed his arms. "I managed ta patch it up with a few planks of wood, but I'll need ta get it properly fixed before it's damaged any further."

"Would you like me to stop by and take a look?" asked North. He knew that Aster wanted to keep his Pookan identity a secret. So North knew how uncomfortable Aster might be having to climb on top of his roof to prepare it. The Pooka wasn't a fan of heights either, and North didn't mind doing a favor for Aster. He owed it to him since he helped him with Jack.

Aster shook his head. "Naw, it's fine, mate. I wouldn't want ta pull ya away from yer work. I'll do it myself. I have all the materials, but I don't have all the tools. Here are the things I need ta borrow from ya."

Aster unfolded a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to North. The ex-Cossack took it and looked it over. North squinted, having trouble reading Aster's handwriting. He wondered if Aster had ever managed to read his writing. He doubted that, though. The Pooka didn't seem to have a clue about how poor his handwriting was.

As Aster watched North review the list, he felt a tug on his pant leg. Aster looked down, spotting Jack sitting below him. The baby sprite raised his hands and let out a small noise, asking to be held. Aster smiled softly, and he lifted the small child in his arms.

"Hey there, mate. How are ya doin'?" asked Aster.

Jack smiled and giggled. "Good," he replied.

"Ah, that's good ta know. If I asked ya that a few months ago, ya probably would've responded with gibberish," jested Aster. Jack laughed.

"Um, Bunny," said North. Aster turned to the ex-Cossack, his ears twitching. North held up the list and pointed to one of the scribbles—words. "What is this?"

"A drill," Aster replied.

North moved his finger down the row. "And this?"

"A mallet," Aster said.

"And this one?"

"That's a hammer, mate."

"Alright…and what about this—"

"Ya know, ya could just ask me ta read the thing fer ya, ya dill," Aster said bluntly.

North smiled sheepishly. It wasn't that he didn't know what any of the items were…It was just that Aster had awful handwriting. Aster listed out the tools that he needed, and North took note of them on a different piece of paper. Once he was done, North said that he'd drop them off at Aster's place as soon as he could. Aster thanked North for his help.

Jack had begun to doze in Aster's arms, and the Pooka chuckled. "Ya might want ta get this little one ta bed. He's already drooling."

North chuckled and he took Jack from Aster. The winter child yawned and leaned against North's chest, his sapphire eyes fluttering.

"Well, I guess I'll see when ya drop those items off," he said, heading for the door. "Thanks again, North."

North nodded. "No problem, Bunny. We will see you later."

Jack managed to smile and wave. "Bye, bye, Bunny."

Aster smiled, and then he was out the door.

…

Only a day had passed when North and Jack found themselves heading to Tooth's post office and teeth collecting station. The Tooth Fairy ran both a postal service, and dentistry, and personally collected children's teeth. Since they held the precious memories of one's childhood, Tooth happily kept them in her impeccable trove of collected teeth. She had everyone's teeth there, and she guarded them along with her miniature clones.

Jack and North entered the large building. In the entryway were colorful mosaics from Toothiana's home from Punjam Hy Loo. Sunlight spilled through the windows, pouring onto the gold, teal, pink, and silver patterns that lined the walls. Rainbow-colored feathers hung from the ceiling. Unique plants that could only be found in the region of Kalithrai were placed around the interior, curling out from their pots and out to great the ex-Cossack and snow sprite.

Jack looked around in awe. "Whoooa."

North chuckled. "Whoa indeed," he agreed.

Up ahead in the center of the dwelling was Tooth at her happiest. She fluttered around from wall to wall, organizing and placing teeth in their proper places. Her mini fairies buzzed about like bees, also participating in the tooth organization, or returning with recently collected cuspids, incisors, and other teeth. The center of Tooth's home was where Tooth collecting took place. Ornately decorated dispensers were filled with the many currencies used around Lunslruna. On the left side of the central building was the way to the post office. Tooth and her fairies ran a quite potent postal service. With her many miniature copies, packages and letters were delivered twice as fast as the average paperboy.

To the right was the way to Tooth's mini dentistry. She was very knowledgeable when it came to teeth-related hygiene, so she welcomed those who were having toothaches, needed a simple checkup, or had cavities that needed to be filled. Way up high toward the ceiling were the fairies' living quarters. Mini beds were stationed in holes for the miniature fairies, and Tooth's bed hung next to a large, circular window. One could see half the village of Santoff Claussen from there.

"Alright, ladies! We're a little behind on organizing, but we can still catch up!" Tooth instructed, flitting up, down, and side to side. "You four, I need you to go through these cuspids again. Are you sure you didn't mix them up with another child's? Hey! Stop messing with the currencies you two! I know they're shiny but we need to stay on task!"

Tooth was so absorbed in her work that she hadn't noticed Jack and North enter. It wasn't until Jack called out, "Toothy!" that she turned around and acknowledged them. Tooth's feathers twitched, and she smiled.

"Oh, hello, North! Jack!" Tooth greeted cheerfully. She placed one of her fairies in charge and fluttered up to the two. "How are you two? It's been a while."

"We are doing fine, Tooth," replied North. Jack smiled in his arms. "I have box of materials that came in recently, and I'm here to pick them up."

Tooth nodded, her feathers bobbing along with her movements. "I did receive the package you're referring to. I set it aside so it wouldn't get lost with the others. I'll go and fetch it for you!"

"Thank you, Toothy," said North. Toothiana smiled, and she fluttered into a nearby room to retrieve North's package. As she searched for the parcel, a troupe of curious mini fairies buzzed to their guests. They took a keen interest in Jack, and they began to flutter around him, twittering and chirping. Jack stared at the fairies, shy at first, but he soon began to enjoy the attention. The boy laughed.

North smiled. "Did you find some new friends, Jack?"

Jack giggled, and the mini fairies buzzed closer. Suddenly, a sharp chirp rang from behind them. The group of fairies turned around. Unlike the others, this fairy had a yellow feather protruding from her head instead of a blue one. She was the one who Tooth had put in charge of the others during her brief absence. The yellow-feathered fairy scolded the group for leaving their work, and she instructed them to get back to their assignments before Tooth found them dawdling. Abashed, the mini fairies returned to their neglected duties. The fairy with the yellow feather flitted to North and Jack and twittered apologetically.

"It is alright," said North. While he didn't speak fluent fairy, he could tell that she was apologizing by her tone.

The fairy nodded, and she turned to Jack, tilting her head. Jack looked at the little fairy and smiled. The yellow-feathered fairy nearly passed out; the little boy had the whitest teeth she had ever seen! No wonder the others had gotten so distracted! The little fairy's fingers twitched, and she fought with herself to not pry the bairn's mouth open and stare at his pearly whites.

The young boy tilted his head as he gazed at the fairy. Then, as if he had made an amazing discovery, he pointed at the yellow-feathered fairy and proclaimed, "Baby Tooth!"

At this point, the other fairies had gathered again. Tooth returned holding a medium-sized package. She noticed that her fairies had paused in their work and were surrounding Jack. The Tooth Fairy let out a light laugh.

"Girls…what did I tell you about staying on task?" asked Tooth. The mini fairies turned their heads to face their queen, chirped their apologies, and backed away to make room for her.

"They have never seen snow sprite before, da?" asked North.

Toothiana nodded. "No, they haven't. Windskald's winds are far too harsh for them to fly in. So whenever we collect in those sectors, it's always a rush. So I'm not surprised that my girls are so curious about Jack."

Though it seemed to be more than curiosity that had the mini fairies interested in Jack, however. They had once again surrounded the little boy; they found him adorable. Especially his pure white teeth! Their bright eyes couldn't pull away from him. Jack grinned from the attention.

"Anyway, we should get going," said North. He shifted Jack in his arms so he could hold both him and the package. Tooth handed it to him, and the ex-Cossack took it. "I have to start supper, and then get started on this. Thank you again, Toothy."

"It's no problem!" Tooth chirped. She waved, as did the other mini-fairies. "Have a great rest of your day North!"

North smiled and Jack waved back. "Bye, Toothy! Bye, fairies! Bye, Baby Tooth!"

North and Jack left the room, and Tooth turned to the fairy whom Jack had addressed with a name.

"Baby Tooth…" she murmured. The yellow-feathered fairy looked at her queen. Tooth hummed. "I like it."

Baby Tooth chirped happily.

…

It was a cool summer's day, and Sandy and Jack were currently in the living room of North's house. Out of all the Guardians, Sandy was the busiest, but he still made sure to set time aside. Right now, he and Jack were constructing the most sumptuous of pillow forts. They had collected every pillow that they could find and fashioned them into a rather large fort. Blankets and pillows acted as the floor, and two chairs that Sandy had borrowed from the dining room held up the blue blanket roof. Sandy had used his dreamsand to add a special, sparkling touch to the fort. And he even created a pirate's ship wheel and mini spyglass for Jack to play with. The winter child had decided that their fort was a starship, sailing across the galaxies and uncovering hidden planets. Jack had a wild imagination, one that Sandy found both thrilling and fun.

"Ah!" Jack cried. He quickly dove into the pillow fort and pointed outside. "Pirates! Take cover!"

Ah, so they were in a starship battle. Sandy smiled and took the wheel. He had been waiting for some action to begin. As he and Jack sailed through the imaginary battle, Sandy was reminded of his old life as a Star Captain. He knew that Jack would enjoy the numerous tales that he had of skimming the cosmos. Perhaps he'd retell them to the young snow sprite sometime. Jack did enjoy a good story.

North, Tooth, and Aster eventually came. All of them were tired after working all day. Sandy had offered to watch Jack while North was gone with the others. They had been busy reviewing and organizing the information that came with being a Guardian, and each of them had just received their titles. Sandy had received his earlier since he was already somewhat in an alliance with Tsar Lunar.

"We're back," announced Aster. He hung up his coat and sighed. "I forgot how annoyin' paperwork was."

Tooth stretched her wings. "Well, it'll all be worth it in the end. Besides, we each have our official titles now. The children will know what to address us by if not our real names."

Bunny snorted. "Sure, Guardian of Memories." The Pooka shook his head. "And I'm the Guardian of Hope. Crikey, I don't even know how hope applies ta me."

"We will find out soon," said North. "Manny chose us for a reason. We should stick together and be confident in ourselves."

"Spoken like the true Guardian of Wonder, North," Tooth remarked. North smiled, and he walked into the living room. Jack crawled out of the pillow fort to greet him. North picked him up.

"Did you have good time with Sandy?" North asked. "I see that you made fort."

Jack nodded. "Star Pilots!" he said.

"Star Pilots?" Aster repeated. He turned to Sandy. "Ya told him about yer old Star Captain life?"

Sandy shook his head, and using his sand images, he said, "Not a thing. Jack just has an active imagination."

North chuckled. "He does," he concurred. "Would you all like to stay for dinner?"

"That'd be great," said Aster. "I had no idea what I was going ta make at home anyway."

Sandy retrieved the two chairs that were used in the pillow fort and returned them to the table. North, Tooth, and Aster warmed up the leftovers that North had saved in the fridge. In a few minutes, the table was set and food was served. As everyone prepared to eat, Jack lifted his spoon to feed himself. He was hungry, and he couldn't wait for the others.

North looked up and gasped. "Jack, wait! Soup is still—"

"Owie!" Jack dropped the metal spoon as his tongue was burned by the soup. Tears sprung in his eyes and he whimpered.

"Shostakovich!" Jack cried. North froze, and the other Guardians stared at the winter child.

"What…did he just say?" asked Aster slowly.

North laughed nervously. "Ah…probably just random gibberish, no?"

"That didn't sound like random gibberish," said Aster, raising an eyebrow. "Sounded like Russian."

Tooth fluttered to a tearful Jack, picking up a tissue to clean him up. "Aw, there, there, Sweet Tooth. We'll have you cleaned up in no time." She handed him his bottle of water to cool down his tongue. As Tooth wiped his face and front, Jack drank it. The winter child set the water down and frowned at the soup bowl in front of him.

"Bloody bowl," he grumbled.

Aster stopped chewing his carrot, and his ears flicked straight up. North smirked.

"And that sounded Australian," he said.

"Oi, hush up, mate," Aster snapped "I didn't teach him any of that."

"But it sounded like something you would say," stated North.

"Oh, come on, you guys. Jack's just repeating things we say," said Tooth. "It's not that big of a—

"Cuspid! Lateral incisor! Sector five, four, three, two one!" Jack blurted out. Tooth pursed her lips and blinked.

"Ya were sayin', Sheila?" Aster asked.

Tooth rubbed her arm. "Ummm…"

"Rack off, ya bloody drongo!" Jack said. Aster sucked in a breath. Sandy held back a snicker.

"How much has he been listening to us talk?" asked Toothiana.

"Well, we are only people he ever spends time around," said North sheepishly.

"Rimsky-Korsakov!" Jack hollered. Sandy laughed while Aster, Tooth, and North cringed. Sandy didn't speak, so he couldn't be humiliated as Jack repeated words and phrases that Aster, North, and Tooth used often. The trio felt quite embarrassed; they hadn't realized how much Jack paid attention to them and what they said. North was glad that he hadn't said any colorful words in front of the baby snow sprite…Who knew what upheaval he could've caused by throwing those phrases around.

"Looks like Jack's officially entered the mimicking face," said Aster. He sighed. "This is beyond embarrassing…"

"It's his way of learning how to speak," said Tooth. "But he can't randomly spout out these words…Especially yours, Bunny."

Aster frowned. "Oi, North's words are equally offensive, thank ya very much! And what about ya? Random teeth names flyin' around?"

Tooth's feathers flared. "At least I'm not calling people 'bloody drongos!'"

Before an argument could break out, North popped in. "We just have to be careful what we say around Jack, is all," he said. "We want him to grow up knowing what words are okay, which ones aren't—"

"And the ones that'll make ya sound crazy," added Aster. Tooth elbowed him sharply.

North shook his head. "Point is…just need to be wary of what we say, da? We'll all make the effort we need to raise Jack right."

Jack nodded. "Ya better!"

Sandy, North, and Tooth turned to Aster. The Pooka raised his hands.

"Hey, he's right," was all he said. The Guardians laughed, and Jack smiled.

Author's Note: Jack's picking up stuff from the Guardians. They need to be careful what they do and say, hahaha. XD Throughout this chapter, I placed various phrases that Jack would most likely pick up, so I hope they were clear enough. X)

And...that's all I have to say. Man, I wish I could come up with more to add. QwQ I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one! Have a blessed rest of your Friday! =D

Until the next chapter!

~BeyondTheMoon1203