Summary:
Finally, the chains come off and Jack is free to do whatever he wants without a judgemental Easter Bunny hovering over him.
Previously:
"Where are ya goin'?!" The Pooka yelled. Jack laughed.
"I'm not done yet!" He called over his shoulder, letting the wind carry them away from the fields. "I still have blizzards to brew!"
"Blizzards! Ya didn't mention anythin' about blizzards!" Bunny practically screamed.
"Well I did now!"
—
North heard the yells before he could see the two guardians.
He was sitting in his chair, reading over some letters when loud voices echoed down the halls, distracting him. At first he thought it was an argument, but as he began to sigh, laughter rose from behind the door.
"The groundhog really did tha'?"
The door was pushed open, revealing Jack and Bunny, who were actually talking civilly. The sight was too much for North, who sat down and waited for them to finish their conversation.
"Yeah!" Jack answered Bunny's question, swinging his staff. North noticed that Bunny didn't complain (like he often did) at the movement, instead listening to the spirit next to him.
"He was crazy, charging at me like a rabid dog." Jack continued. "Started screaming some stuff I couldn't understand, so I ran outta there."
"I thought ya weren't scared of any spirit." Bunny teased, rolling his eyes.
"Never scared, no. But if a fight is going to start? That's just being sensible."
"Ya have never been sensible in ya life."
"Charmed."
North, with a cough, interrupted them, smiling.
"What can I do for you, hmm?" He asked. Jack grinned, holding out his chain. Bunny did the same, raising an eyebrow.
"What else?" Jack asked, walking closer to the Cossack. North chuckled, bending to inspect the chain.
"Iz been long enough for you two, I agree." He straightened himself up again, looking up at the ceiling. "Sandy iz upstairs, so let's wait for him to finish his work, yes?"
He expected the two guardians to argue or complain, however – though Bunny sighed loudly – they didn't audibly complain.
With a small huff, Jack sat on the floor whilst Bunny moved over to the chair. The Pooka hesitated when the chain jerked, sending Jack sliding across the floor; the spirit let out a yelp, craning his neck to see the rabbit.
"Watch it…" He said. Frowning, he lifted up his foot, inspecting it. "You might've given me a splinter…"
North chuckled as Bunny rolled his eyes, tugging the chain.
"You ain't gonna get a splinter so shut ya trap."
"But I could've, and that means you put an innocent child in danger." Jack countered, widening his eyes.
"Child?" North asked curiously, smiling. Jack pulled a face, wiggling his hand.
"Eh…just about."
"Yeah righ'" Bunny snorted, persistently moving to his chair.
"Ahh! Stop!" Jack cried out, getting dragged across the floor. He giggled as the Pooka tugged harder.
"North! Help me!" Jack pleaded, looking up at him from his sprawl on the floor.
"I think you are managing fine." North said, shrugging slyly. Jack gasped, looking betrayed.
"Help me or –" He was interrupted when Bunny swung Jack across the room, now grinning. "Okay! Now your doing this on purpose!" The spirit yelled, twisting onto his stomach. "There is no way your stupid chair is that far away!"
"Ya can easily get up!" Bunny argued, swinging Jack around a corner.
"I'm wounded!"
North noticed how Bunny froze temporarily, checking the spirit for any injuries.
"I have a splinter." Jack moaned, holding up his foot.
"Liar!"
"I'm not lying! Why on earth would you think that?"
North chuckled as he watched the two play fight, Bunny using his extra size and weight to pin Jack to the ground.
"No fair!" Jack whined, trying to wiggle out of the rabbit's grip.
"I don't care." Bunny replied, twitching his ear. A movement from the top of the stairs caught their attention, and all three guardians looked up to see Sandy drifting down them, smiling.
"Hi!" Jack waved enthusiastically from underneath Bunny, grinning. Sandy waved back.
"We need ya to take these chains off." Bunny said bluntly, standing up. He held out the chain and with the movement Jack was raised off the ground with a yelp.
"They have been good, don't worry." North reassured when the golden man looked at him skeptically.
With a soft glow, the chains broke off the two guardians' wrists with a dull clunk, dissolving as they hit the floor. Jack fell to the ground before promptly doing cartwheels around the room, laughing.
"Finally…" Bunny sighed, leaping out of the way as Jack flipped next to him. "I was beginnin' to go crazy."
"Hey, I think my mind has already been damaged by being close to you for so long." Jack retorted, grinning. Bunny was about to reply hotly when North interrupted, asking a question that had been on his mind for some while.
"Why didn't you come here sooner?" The Cossack questioned. "I thought you would be trying to get me to break that thing within a few hours."
"Err, we kinda ran into some trouble…" Jack began, mid handstand.
"I think "bit" is an understatement." Bunny muttered, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, well no one asked you."
"Actually he did ya idiot."
"I'm not an idiot!"
"Really?"
"Yup!"
"What kind of trouble?" North interrupted, raising an eyebrow. He folded his arms as he waited for one of them to speak.
"It was nothing, really –" Jack tried to say but was stopped by Bunny's scoff.
"That ain't nothin'" Bunny snapped. He turned to North. "We got attacked by some spring spirits."
North hissed. He had never met any spring spirits before, but they had never sounded friendly when other spirits talked about them – none of the seasonals had ever did, now that he thought about it.
"Yeah, they weren't friendly." The Pooka said. Only now, North noticed some scratches on Bunny's arms, and tears in Jack's hoodie.
"Look, they do it all the time, it's no biggie!" Jack tried to reassure, aiming to stop the anger rapidly spreading on North's face and the darkening of Sandy's eyes.
"All of the time!" North's voice raised, and Sandy scowled. "What do they exactly do, "all of the time"?"
"They got pissed when Jackie tried to spread some winter an' ya can see the rest." Bunny growled, gesturing to himself and Jack. Jack had many more scratches than Bunny, and some were still oozing blood.
"That iz out of order!" North was almost shouting now, letting the anger control his actions. "You were doing nothing wrong!"
"Guys."
"Yeah, that's what I was sayin' to Frosty earlier."
"Guys."
"Is there any way to stop this? Any higher authority?"
"Guys!"
The older guardians paused, turning to Jack. Frost was spreading under the younger's feet and digging into the floorboards. His expression was shadowed by his hood, which had been pulled up sometime during their debate.
"There's no point." Jack muttered. He looked up at them, pulling down his hood. "No point in trying to do anything."
"Why?" North asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "We can help –"
"The last thing you need it to be making more enemies on my account." Jack said. Frost spread faster under his heels until it was almost touching Bunny's feet. "You might need their help someday."
"I'd rather smash their faces in than –"
"That's not the point, Bunny." Jack cut the Pooka off. He gave the other guardians in the room a weak smile. "Really, you don't want another Pitch fiasco on your hands – then the moon would have to choose another guardian." The spirit grinned, glancing at Bunny. "Might even be the groundhog."
"Hate the groundhog." Bunny muttered, a low growl in his throat. Jack laughed, swinging his staff.
"No one does, really – that is, apart from the spring spirits." Jack said.
"Those buggers –"
"Yeah, they talk a lot."
"Not surprised." North grumbled, still not fully satisfied. Jack sensed this, and gave him a quick smile before turning to the kitchen.
"Now I'm gonna get myself some peach juice." The spirit said, running into the kitchen. He called over his shoulder: "I hope no one took it from the "Jack Frost" section in the fridge or I'm gonna be very annoyed."
Also, in the fridge, there was a "Tooth" section, "Santa" section, "Golden boy" section and "Kangaroo" section (Jack named them all, originally calling the "Tooth" section "Scary Lady" until Tooth herself changed the name.)
"Don't worry, I had the best elves guard it." North called back. Jack groaned. "What?"
"The elves would've drank it by now!" Jack moaned. A loud thump informed the three other guardians that the spirit had flopped onto the floor dramatically.
"I just wanted some juice…" Jack was heard to mutter, his head squashed against the kitchen tiles.
"How did you cope with him again?" North asked, chuckling. Bunny sighed.
"I dunno Nick. I dunno."
REEEEAAAD PLEEEASE:
I will be on holiday for pretty much the rest of August so ALMOST NO UPDATES FOR ANY OF THIS…please don't be mad…
Hope you have a good summer!
Bye for now