Author's Note: *Yetis play trumpets* *Elves throw confetti* *Steps into the middle of celebration* FINALLY. 'TIS CHRISTMAS BREAK! *Blows horn* Yes, yes, yes! Two whole weeks of NO SCHOOL. WOO-HOO!
*Coughs* But, of course, education is still important. =P Anyyyyway, here's chapter seventeen of "That Time of Year!" I hope you guys enjoy it! =D
Chapter Seventeen: Sleigh Ride
December Seventeenth
North had promised Jack that he would teach him how to fly the sleigh, and the winter spirit was impatient. Jack understood that North was busy, especially since that Christmas was right around the corner, but he still couldn't help but feel a little impatient. He wanted to learn how to fly the sleigh. He needed to learn how to fly the sleigh, which is what he thought in his mind.
Jack's perspective on the flying vehicle had definitely changed. At first, Jack had thought that it was an old, rickety, sleigh that could barely fly through the air. He was proven wrong, though, when the real sleigh was pulled out by North's herd of reindeer, bucking and kicking as if they were glad to finally be out of the cramped space of their stables.
Ever since that day, Jack really wanted to learn how to fly the sleigh. He wanted to whip at the reins and make the reindeer fly as fast as they could go in the cold winter air. Maybe he could take Jamie and Sophie for a ride if North would let him. Jack smiled at the thought, and that's when he knew he needed to ask the ex-Cossack to teach him how to fly it right then and there.
The winter spirit flew off of his perch on the high rafters above and soared over the Workshop. Work time had ended over an hour ago, so things were pretty quiet in the North Pole. It was evening, and Jack knew that North was probably making a few ice sculptures for the yetis to use the next day. North never took long making his sculptures unless there were meticulous and intricate patterns that needed time to create. Jack landed lightly on his feet in front of the door to North's study and was about to open the door when he remembered how North liked it better if one knocked first before entering. So, Jack knocked on the door and when North's voice said "Come in" from inside, he entered.
North's study was still alive with lights and inventions, and Jack was surprised at how many ice sculptures were lying on the tables and floors. The winter spirit turned to North, who was creating an ice sculpture of a rocket.
"Wow," remarked Jack. "That looks amazing."
North smiled. "Vhy, thank you, Jack," he said as the winter spirit walked up to the desk. Jack sat down in a chair and watched as North added the last few finishing touches. The Guardian of Wonder was very talented in ice sculpting, and Jack hoped that one day, he'd be able to create something just as magnificent as North's creations. North added one last finishing touch.
"There. Iz done," said North proudly as he stepped back to admire his work. Jack smiled.
"It looks great, North," the Guardian of Fun said. He smirked mischievously. "Maybe you should add train wheels to it."
North laughed. "I think I vill leave it the way it iz. Besides, this iz going to be soon turned into toy and vill be given to child."
Jack nodded and helped North put his tools away, which didn't take very long. The winter spirit was waiting for the right moment to ask North to teach him how to fly the sleigh.
"Hey, North?" said Jack at last. "Do you think you can teach me how to fly the sleigh?"
North chuckled. He had seen this coming. Jack had been asking him to teach him how to fly the sleigh for the past few days. The ex-Cossack had said that he would teach Jack when he got the time, and right then it did seem like a good one. It was evening, but for a beginner like Jack, North would prefer if they waited until morning so there was lighter.
"Tomorrow," said North. Jack smiled giddily. "But, ve vill not be doing any daredevil stunts."
"Aw, come on, North!" exclaimed Jack. "Can't I just do one?"
"Do you know how to?" asked North.
Jack was about to say something, but then he frowned. "Touche," he mumbled. The winter spirit sighed. "Okay, fine. No crazy stunts."
North smiled, satisfied, and then put his chainsaw away. "Okay, then. Ve vill start in afternoon!" he announced.
Jack's smile quickly returned as quickly as it left. He helped North tidy up his Workshop and move some of the ice sculptures down to the Workshop. After that was done, Jack said goodnight to North and headed for his bedroom, excitement bubbling inside of him. Tomorrow, he would learn how to fly the sleigh. And maybe, if he tried hard enough, he could convince North to let him do a stunt or two.
…
The morning had never gone slower for Jack. He tried his best to be patient—he really did—but it seemed as if Father Time was purposefully making things go slow for the winter spirit. Jack had tried to take his mind off of the upcoming flying lesson by busying himself in the Workshop alongside the elves and yetis, but he couldn't seem to take his mind off of it, no matter how many times he tried.
Jack handed Phil a hammer and he watched as the yeti began banging the wall of a dollhouse into place. The winter spirit sighed as his mind wandered to flying the sleigh again. Phil grumbled for another nail and Jack handed one to him.
"Hey, Phil," said Jack. "Have you ever flown the sleigh?"
"Erayagh," replied the yeti. Jack had no idea if that was a yes or a no, but he continued anyway.
"North's going to teach me how to fly it," Jack continued. "Man, I can't wait until he lets me fly it with the other Guardians sometime. Maybe I'll make the reindeer go full speed just to scare the heck out of Bunny." The winter spirit chuckled at the thought. "And maybe I'll throw in a couple of stunts and loop-de-loops and—"
Phil barked for another nail and Jack nearly dropped them. The Guardian of Fun handed Phil another nail and smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, Phil," apologized Jack. "I'm just excited."
The gray yeti only grumbled in response, and he continued constructing the dollhouse. Jack stood there for a while longer, occasionally handing the yeti nails or other tools when he asked for them. Jack didn't know how much longer he could wait.
Then finally, North emerged from his study and called down to the young winter spirit. "Jack! Ve can start lesson no if you vant!"
"Yes!" shouted Jack gleefully, and the winter spirit dropped the box of nails he was holding and laughed all the way to the hanger. North had to run to keep up with the white-haired teen. North was out of breath when he finally reached Jack, who was already sitting at the front of the sleigh, gripping the reins, ready to snap them.
"Can I launch us?" asked Jack.
North shook his head and let out a small laugh. "Jack, I don't even have my coat!"
Jack blinked. "Oh, I didn't realize that." The winter spirit sighed and the thought of more waiting and said, "I guess I'll wait a little longer. Hurry, though!"
And North did hurry. He knew Jack wouldn't purposefully get himself into trouble. But leaving him alone with the sleigh and reindeer brought up a lot of what ifs in North's head. What if Jack took off without him? What if Jack took off without him and crashed? North knew these worries were ridiculous. Jack was 317 years old; he could take care of himself. But still, North swiftly grabbed his coat and hat where it hung in his study and brought his two swords. He never left Santoff Claussen without them.
North walked back to the sleigh to find Jack giving each of the reindeer a carrot. The ex-Cossack guessed that he must've grabbed them from the kitchen when he left. Jack turned to North and smiled.
"Hey, North! The reindeer looked like they wanted a snack, so I grabbed some carrots from the kitchen," he of the reindeer tried biting Jack's hair, which made Jack laugh.
"Hey! My hair is not food!" the winter spirit backed away. "Do you know how long it took for me to get this hairstyle?"
North chuckled and patted Jack on the back. "Come on, my boy. Iz time for sleigh lesson to start."
Jack grinned and he hopped into the sleigh. North got in and took the reins and then cracked them. The reindeer instantly sped down the winding ice tunnel. Jack laughed as they went through the several loop-dee-loops, twists, and turns. The exhilarating launch soon ended with them flying into the clear blue sky. North did a quick lap around Santoff Claussen before heading out into the vast, winter wonderland of the North Pole.
Jack turned to North, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Okay, where do I start? How do I make the sleigh speed up? How do I steer? How do I do a loop-dee-loop so I can scare Bunny to death?"
"Vhoa, vhoa, slow down," said North with a small chuckle. "Ve vill start slow. First," he handed Jack the reins. "Hold on to these."
"Wow, I feel so powerful," remarked Jack as he gripped the reins. The leather of the reins was smooth, and Jack couldn't believe that he was holding the two very things that controlled the entire sleigh. He turned to North. "Can I crack them, now?"
"Nyet," said North. "The pace ve are at right now is perfect for beginner level. Ve vill speed up later."
"Aw, darn," said Jack with a small frown.
North laughed lightly. "Anyvay, the first thing you need to know is how to keep control of reins. Every movement you make vith them means something."
Jack nodded.
"Vhy don't you try steering left?" said North. "Just pull reins to the left side firmly, but not too hard."
Jack did what North told him, but he must have pulled a bit too hard because the reindeer veered a little too far left that they started to dip. Jack yanked at the reins, which made the reindeer buck and speed up. Jack was losing control. North quickly took the reins again and slowed the reindeer back at a slower pace.
"I guess I need to work on my steering, huh?" said Jack as he picked himself up.
"Steering takes practice," said North. "Took me a vhile to learn how to."
North handed Jack the reins again and directed him how he should move them. Jack found that North was really great at explaining things, and he was soon able to steer the sleigh left and right after the ex-Cossack's instruction. Jack was still a little uneven on turns, but he steadily improved thanks to North's tips.
"So…can we speed up now?" asked Jack.
North smiled. "Ve can speed up a little."
Jack grinned and he was about to snap the reins when North stopped him.
"Not too fast," said North. Jack huffed.
"Okay," he said. "How do I make them speed up a little?"
North showed Jack what to do, which was simply just cracking the reins just a little bit. He then showed the winter spirit how to slow down, which didn't take so long either. Jack simply just had to tug back on the reins, not too hard though or it would irritate the reindeer.
Jack cracked the reins and the reindeer sped up. The winter spirit smiled proudly and turned to North, who ruffled his hair.
"You are getting quite good at this, my boy," said North.
"Thanks!" said Jack with a smile. He increased the speed of the sleigh just a little bit more and then turned back toward the direction of Santoff Claussen. It was evening and the sun was just beginning to sink into the horizon. Jack wondered how long it took North to get the hang of driving the sleigh, and he also wondered how long it took to build it. There were so many things that Jack wondered about North, and he understood now why North was the Guardian of Wonder.
"North, where did you get the inspiration to build this sleigh anyway?" asked Jack.
"A lot of things," replied North. "I made a lot of inventions back then, and I did make a different flying machine once before too."
Jack's eyes widened. "You did?"
North nodded with a smile. "Da, I did. Robot Djinni iz also flying machine."
"But I thought it was just a robot," said Jack in surprise. "And it doesn't look big enough to be a flying machine. Heck, it doesn't look big enough to actually carry people!"
North laughed. "If you say the command, it can turn into it. It has propeller and it iz not pulled by reindeer, which made it a bit slower. I made sleigh to improve on the Djinni."
"That's pretty cool," said Jack. The winter spirit trained his eyes to look ahead so he wouldn't crash the sleigh. The wintery village of Santoff Claussen soon came into sight, and the winter spirit suddenly realized that he didn't know how to land.
"Uh, North? How do I land?" asked Jack.
"Iz easy," said North. "Make sure to slow down and keep reins leveled. Once you hit ground, pull back on them, but not too hard."
Jack nodded. It sounded simple enough but proved to be a lot harder. When the landing area came close, Jack slowed down but forgot to keep the reins at level. The winter spirit pulled back on the to try and get the reindeer to stop, but they continued running toward the unopened doors that led to the stables.
"We're gonna crash!" exclaimed Jack. North quickly grabbed the reins and yanked back on them, and the reindeer slowed to a stop.
"I guess I need to work on my landing skills as well," said Jack.
"It vill take time before you master flying sleigh," said North. He laid a hand on Jack's shoulder. "But you vill get there. You did good job today, moy mal'chik."
Jack smiled. "Thanks, North."
The two got out of the sleigh and entered the warmth of Santoff Claussen. Yetis and elves were beginning to put newly wrapped toys away, and North down to the Workshop to see how things went. A yeti reported that everything went along just smoothly while he and Jack were gone. Even the elves managed to be productive.
North and Jack walked to the study and Jack asked North various questions about the sleigh. How long did it take for him to build it? How did the first test flight go? Where did the reindeer come from? North answered each and every one of the winter teen's questions.
"I wonder why people think your sleigh is old-fashioned," said Jack. "I just heard about it from people and a few immortals," Jack chuckled. "I guess they need to get a glimpse of the real thing."
North nodded. "Iz fine. It iz nice to know that at least some people know what sleigh really looks like. Including you."
Jack shook his head with a smile. "I really wasn't expecting your sleigh to look so cool."
"That iz vhy I am Guardian of Wonder!" said North happily, and that made Jack laugh. North was the Guardian of Wonder. He was able to add a little bit of wonder to things that seemed like they couldn't be wonderful. It was a remarkable trait of North's, and Jack admired it.
Soon, things in the Workshop had died down and everyone was getting ready to turn in for the night. Tomorrow was going to be a long and busy day. Not only was all of Santoff Claussen getting ready for Christmas Eve, but there were also the last and final party preparations that had to be done.
North walked Jack to his bedroom and said, "Make sure to rest vell, Jack. Iz going to be very busy tomorrow."
Jack smiled. "Don't worry, I will." the winter spirit shifted on his feet. "Thanks for teaching me how to fly the sleigh."
"Anytime, Jack," said North happily. "Sleep well."
"Goodnight, North," said Jack. And the winter spirit shut the door. Jack set his staff against the wall and laid down in bed. Jack didn't really feel like sleeping, but he knew that he was going to want to be well-rested for the next day.
Jack rolled over on his side, thinking that it would take him hours and hours until he would fall asleep. But instead, it only took a few minutes. Soon, Jack's eyes slipped closed, and he was whisked away into the world of dreams.
Author's Note: So, the robot Djinni is a Guardians of Childhood book reference. It's one of North's first inventions, and it can turn into a flying machine at the right command. Super cool, huh? =)
Next chapter, final Christmas preparations begin! =D I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you tomorrow for the next one! =D
Until the next chapter!
-BeyondTheMoon1203
