Hello again everyone

I disclaim.

Enjoy!

"Cut it out!" Jack hissed, flopping into a snow bank.

His belly rumbled again.

"No!" The spirit growled, glaring daggers at his stomach. His stomach quietened slightly. Sighing, Jack subconsciously placed a hand over it, sitting up from his current slouch. However annoying it was, it was normal for him.

Living out on the streets wasn't as glamorous as Jack often described. With no home, the spirit had quickly grown used to the lack of food that his style of living gave, but it still didn't mean that he was never hungry – no, he was starving almost all of the time. Once or twice he considered, now that he was a guardian, asking North or Bunny for any leftovers but, as always, his pride always got the better of him.

What's so different now? Why bother?

That was always what Jack told himself. Still, it wasn't easy being hungry. In fact, is was just plain annoying feeling his stomach rumble each time he was food, or smelt a nice odour in the air. It was especially hard for him to not fly into a human's home and steal the meals that were laid out neatly on big tables. Jack Frost thought of himself as a lot of things, but he wasn't a thief.

There were lots of times where Jack wouldn't actually feel hungry, but the spirit preferred to be hungry at these times. These were the days when he would shut himself off from the world and leave himself with his own, careful thoughts.

Jack's daydreaming was interrupted by a particularly loud rumble from his stomach which made him curse in surprise.

"Stop. It!" Jack snapped, standing up abruptly. Ignoring it wasn't working. Still cursing furiously, the spirit desperately searched his surroundings for anything edible. Anything to get his stomach to shut up…plus he was pretty hungry right now.

"What's that?" Jack spotted a small, reddish object hanging on a tree branch. It looked kinda like an…

"Apple! Yummy!" Jack laughed in delight. He liked apples a lot. Apples were juicy. Apples were nice. Apples were yummy.

Cocking his head, the spirit quickly calculated the safest route up the tree and began to walk to his target. Grinning excitedly at the concept of a meal, he dropped his staff beside him and began to climb up the trunk, digging his toes into the bark. Usually, Jack would just fly up to the apple and snatch it, but last time he did that he ended up knocking himself out on one of the branches.

"You're mine, apple!" Jack yelled happily, swinging across each branch like a monkey. Laughing, he reached out for the fruit that hung above him, more tempting then ever. His fingers just scraped the red skin…almost…

SNAP

Jack jumped at the sudden noise, looking around wildly.

SNAP

The spirit, with a sinking realisation, didn't get time to grab hold of something, but his hands froze –

And then he fell.

Branches split under his weight as he tumbled down the tree. He landed hard on his stomach, scattering snowflakes beneath him. His head slammed against the tree trunk, stunning him for a few seconds.

"Owww…" Jack moaned, coughing slightly. Blinking back the daze, he raised a hand and wiped back a few droplets of blood from his brow. Frowning slightly, the spirit grabbed his staff and propped himself up, cursing in various languages. Apparently English wasn't enough to show his frustration. An uncharacteristically angry scowl took over Jack's expression; eyes narrowed, he glared up at the apple, which was still hanging in the tree.

"That was mean!" He yelled at the fruit, loud enough to make a flock of birds flutter out of the trees.

The apple didn't reply.

"Fine!" Jack twisted unsteadily on his heel and began to walk in the direction of the town. "I'll find something else! Something much better than you!"

—

Sanderson Mansnoozie wasn't really one for snooping around, and listening into people's conversations. He preferred to wait for the person to open up themselves.

And Sandy was definitely, definitively not a master of stealth. With his bright glow and tendency to make sand creatures that gave him away to his target, the guardian had discovered that he was completely useless at trying to follow anyone at all and that, if he ever had the desire to follow anyone, he would ask Bunny to do it for him.

So why, why he was attempting to follow Jack Frost – the actual master of stealth – was a very long story.

Sandy had been doing his nightly dreams when he heard a variety of loud curses and threats coming from the forest that surrounding Burgess Lake. It was a well known fact to the sandman that Jack seemed to hang around the lake a lot for unknown reasons.

Unsurprisingly, Sandy couldn't help but let out a silent chuckle as he watched Jack stumble out of the trees, muttering furiously under his breath. The spirit looked quite angry, from what the older guardian could make out from the cloud he was currently floating on, and from his windswept look, looked like he had just fell out of something or crashed into something. Probably both.

Usually at this point Sandy would've moved to welcome the spirit and talk for a while before moving on, but logic got in the way of friendliness.

Why wasn't Jack in his home by now? It didn't look like he was in a hurry or spreading snow – he just looked determined and annoyed.

So now Sandy was following Jack, and he had to admit, it was easier than he thought it would be. The sandman could only place the spirit's unawareness on the fact that he still seemed quite annoyed with something, and it looked like he was searching for something.

There had been a few times, however, when Jack had been close to finding him – sometimes he would randomly look upwards and Sandy had to dive behind buildings quickly or fly out of his view. But so far he hadn't been found, and Sandy was feeling pleased with himself. So he kept tailing Jack, not knowing why.

—

Jack swore he was being followed.

The wind was slightly warmer that what it usually was around him and…

Something was just off.

Jack had had lots of experience with people following him – somehow he wasn't that popular amongst spirits – and this felt the same. However, after a few random checks in the sky and around corners, the spirit let himself relax and focus at the task in hand.

Because he was really hungry.

Something had caused him to become ravenous between falling from the tree and walking around town. He wanted food. He wanted an apple.

"Maybe…here?" Jack had just turned a corner and found a few dumpsters in the shadows. Curiously he moved closer, resting his staff against the stained walls.

"Aaaand in dumpster number one, we can reveal that there iiiiissss…" Jack announced like a game show host, lifting up the lid. "Ladies and gentlemen, it is a load of rubbish! No food for Jack!" He addressed to his invisible audience, shutting the lid with a slam. The rubbish stank. Shuffling, Jack reached the second dumpster, bored of his game. He was just hungry. Wincing, he opened the lid and found:

"Meat! Yuck!" Quickly he shut the meat before anymore flies could get into his face. "I just want some food, people! I don't want to steal it!" Sighing, the spirit moves over to the third dumpster, pleased to see that the lid was partly open.

"Please be something nice…" he prayed, peering inside. It was mainly full of plastic bags and Jack almost missed the small piece of food that was slightly crushed in the corner. Tilting his head, he inspected the unknown food. His face slowly broke into a grin.

"A cupcake!" Jack whispered, pulling it out carefully. The cupcake was crumbling in his hands and was partly eaten, but to the spirit it was the best thing he had seen in a month. Gently, he cupped the cake in his hand and grabbed his staff with another. He lowered himself to the wet ground, crossing his legs.

Grinning, Jack began to nibble the cake, savouring the sweetness of the icing and the flavour bursting from the sponge. It was gone quicker than the spirit would've liked.

Jack licked the crumbs off his hands and leant against the wall, drawing his legs into his chest. From what he could tell, it was past midnight, and he was getting tired. He considered going to his lake and sleeping in a tree, but the fall he had earlier was still fresh in his mind.

"Not much of a difference…" Jack muttered to himself, making himself smaller against the wall. "Only that people might walk through me…" The spirit smiled as the last of the cupcake flavours left his mouth, and closed his eyes.

He was asleep within the next few minutes.

—

Sandy watched as Jack fell asleep against the wall, shocked at what he had just saw. He always assumed that the spirit had a home, a place to stay…but if he was routing though dumpsters for food, then he doubted he had anything.

He considered revealing himself to Jack a few times, but the same thought kept blocking him from making any movements.

The trust between Jack and the the guardians was fragile.

Guilt came crashing upon the sandman in waves. None of them had ever known, ever bothered to even ask…

Jack was homeless.