Sandy
I had heard enough.
I gripped Jack's hoodie and yanked him away from the corner, back through the halls and to the exit. Without waiting for the other Guardian to follow, I shot up through the tunnel.
I wasted no time conjuring a dreamsand cloud to sit upon. Jack appeared, glancing hesitantly back at the hole, just as I took off. I waved at him to follow.
He appeared next to me on the wind, and the two of us exited the trees into the cool night air.
Jack sent me a glance. "So… you wanna explain what's going on here? Cause I'm gonna be honest, I'm pretty lost."
Fervent sand images began to unfold over my head, but I could see Jack's expression twist in bewilderment.
"Uh… you lost me, little man," he admitted with a chuckle.
I rolled my eyes dramatically and shrugged.
"But I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you know the woman in the paintings, and Pitch is obviously trying to kidnap her, so you want to go save her."
I nodded fiercely.
Jack took a deep breath, and for a second, I thought he would argue. Not that it mattered; I would never let him go with me anyway. Then, he nodded. "So, as much as I'm all for going on random missions just the two of us... what's your plan?"
I trailed to a stop and pursed my lips. What was my plan? How would I even get to the Isle of Stranded Souls?
"Sandy, I'm not gonna lie, I have a lot of questions."
I gasped. An image of North tossing a snow globe in the air so it burst into a portal popped into my mind. A sand figure of a globe unfurled over my head.
"North's portal globes!" Jack exclaimed. "Right! Well we can just go ask North if we can—"
I threw up my hands and shook my head.
Jack's eyebrow arched. "No…?"
I created a dreamsand mask and wrapped it around my face, then pretended to sneak across my cloud.
Jack's brow furrowed. "Sandy… are you saying we should steal from North?"
I shook my head and pointed to myself.
"You? You're gonna steal from North… alone?"
I pointed to the Man in the Moon, thankfully hidden behind the clouds. Jack followed my finger, and he tilted his head.
"The Man in the Moon…?" He gave me a suspicious look.
I huffed out a sigh. I took both of his hands in mine so I could stare seriously into his eyes. Trust me.
Jack seemed to get the message. He averted his gaze down and nodded. "Right… right… you've never steered me wrong before, short stack. But there's no way I'm letting you do this alone."
I wagged my finger, but he interrupted, "Don't try to argue. I'm not gonna listen, so let's just go!" He began to fly off into the sky.
I threw a dreamsand whip around his ankle and yanked him back to me. His face fell with shock. I felt a pain in my heart, but I forced a serious expression. I pointed sharply to the Man in the Moon, then at him, and then back to the ground.
"Sandy…" Jack belted out an odd sort of stunned laugh. "What…? You really want to do this alone?"
I nodded sharply.
Just as I feared, a determined look passed over Jack's face. "Look, this could be dangerous… you can't expect me to—"
Before be sound finish, I blew on my palm, sending a puff of dreamsand into his face.
He gasped, and quickly fell limp. I caught him on a dreamsand cloud and lowered him back to the ground, where I leaned him comfortably against a tree. Dreams of ice skating danced over his head. I had hoped it wouldn't come to this, but I could not endanger Jack's position. He didn't understand the risks, and he didn't deserve it.
I shook my head, gathering my thoughts, and built up my dreamsand cloud once more. I headed towards the North Pole.
For a moment, I glanced up at the Man in the Moon. The cold silver light was glowing behind the foggy sky, an omnipotent presence. I swallowed hard and narrowed my eyes with determination. The Man in the Moon wouldn't like this… but I could deal with that later.
. . .
Landing on the rooftop of the pole was always a challenge, especially in the dark. It was constantly covered in snow and was rounded off with a steep slope leading right over the edge of a massive cliff.
I made sure to come down near the top, where the slope wasn't so steep. The whipping wind nearly sent me flailing off the side, and I landed roughly on my hands and knees. By some stroke of luck, North had forgotten the sky window partially opened.
I peered down inside. Everything was silent and dark, the only light coming from the glowing specks scattered across North's giant globe. The party decorations were still hung up, and the building almost looked abandoned. It seemed the entire pole was asleep, as I would expect on January 1st.
North only ever took this one day off the entire year. His trip around the world was over and so was our annual party. By this time, his Christmas adrenaline rush wore off, and he was always exhausted. I had to plead with him for several years before he finally agreed to use the beginning of January as a day of rest. He slept the entire day, and I knew, because I always took care to give him especially wonderful dreams.
And tonight, I had to make sure his dreams were extra captivating.
I closed my eyes in concentration and began to build up a powerful batch of dreamsand.
"Sandy, I swear, every day you find some new way to surprise me."
I jumped so high I almost lost my balance. I spun around, and there was Jack, leaning against his staff with a mischievous glint in his eyes. He tried to brush his hair back into place after the wind ruffled it. "I tried to break in here for years, and you managed to do it in less than ten minutes."
I just gaped at him for a few seconds, unsure how to respond.
"Come on, Sandy," Jack teased. "You can't expect me not to follow you after you told me exactly where you're going."
I slapped my hand over my face.
Jack knelt down over the sky window. "So what's the plan? Do you know where he keeps his portals?"
I nudged him out of the way and pressed a finger over my mouth, telling him to be quiet. North was a heavy sleeper, but he was very protective of his home. If he heard the chatter of trespassers, he would wake up fully ready for a fight, and I doubted he would take the time to realize the intruders were his fellow Guardians.
I closed my eyes again and continued to weave a dream. The gold vine spiraled down through the skylight and dispersed. Anyone sleeping inside the building would be dreaming soundly in the deepest of sleeps for the next few hours.
I squeezed through the sky window and floated down into the room. Jack sent a glance around before leaping after me. "This is definitely getting me back on the Naughty List," he joked.
I drifted to the control panel beside the globe. There were tons of buttons all over. I pursed my lips and gingerly pressed one. The giant globe stopped spinning. I pressed another. The sky window opened farther.
"Sandy, what are you doing?!" Jack whispered urgently. "North is gonna hear us!"
I bit my lip, then began randomly pounding buttons in desperation. Finally, the floor under the globe opened up with a metallic clang, and the massive sphere began to sink.
Jack's jaw dropped. I smirked with satisfaction as I hopped over the control panel.
Stairs unfolded before us, leading below. Just like that, Jack and I were staring down at an entire hidden, underground floor. With an echoing thud, the globe slipped into place as the centerpiece of a beautifully furnished, circular room with a red carpet and several hallways branching off in every direction.
"Wow…" Jack murmured. "How did you know about this?"
I grinned with a chuckle.
The two of us headed down, Jack's footsteps thumping loudly in the silence. We passed the globe, and I hesitated between a few of the hallways. I patted my chin, trying to remember exactly which hall we were looking for, as Jack stumbled around behind me, practically breaking his neck so he could gape up at his surroundings. He was so engrossed in the strange new setting, he nearly stumbled right into me.
Recognition washed over me, and I pointed to one of the hallways on our left. Jack hurried after me, and we rushed through the entryway.
"How in the world are we going to find the portals?" Jack questioned, scanning the dozens of doors on either side of us. "This place is huge!"
I didn't answer him. I was scanning the doors, each with a plaque to label what was hidden on the other side— Correction Coal, The Secret of Mrs. Clause, Legends of Krampus, Sword Collection, Ancient Maps… I gasped and skidded to a halt. There it is! Portal Globes!
Jack guffawed in what sounded like a mixture of shock and excitement as he caught up to me. "This is insane! The Secret of Mrs. Clause?! I'm definitely coming back here again."
I wagged my finger at him in disapproval as I pushed the door open. And there, inside, were hundreds of snow globes neatly organized on tall shelves and ready for the taking.
"That's a lot of globes," Jack murmured, taking a step closer. He reached out.
I threw my arm out to stop him and eyed him seriously. I held up two fingers.
"Two?" Jack whined with his signature half smile. "That's it? Wouldn't you like to take an extra just in case?"
I vigorously shook my head.
Jack rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine."
We scooped up one globe each, and then we hurried back into the hallway, rushing for the exit. Rooms flashed by, but we didn't have time to sight see, despite Jack insisting on stopping to read the labels on every door.
We rushed up the steps. I handed Jack my globe and drifted to the control panel. I was inches from pressing the button to close off the hidden floor when I heard the dreaded sound of a door opening. A cold wind whipped inside.
Jack and I froze rigid.
The sound of stomping boots grew closer, and there was an obnoxious yawn.
"That baby reindeer is not adjusting quite properly," North grumbled in frustration. "But, he will be ready for my sleigh someday." A yeti chattered to him.
My hands slapped over my head in panic. Jack leaped up onto one of the balconies above, and I dove behind a pillar.
North appeared around the bend in furry red and black pajamas, one of his yetis trailing after him with its attention buried in a book. The Guardian was rubbing his eyes, still half asleep. At first, he walked straight through the room without noticing anything, and I almost thought he would totally miss the underground floor we had opened up.
Just before he left, he paused, and his entire body stiffened. He wheeled around. He eyed the room suspiciously.
"Who is there?" he boomed. "Come out immediately!" He began to prowl straight towards me.
Just before North could peer around the pillar, there was a thump behind him.
"Oh hey, North!"
North whipped around to reveal Jack casually leaning against his staff, both arms tucked behind his back.
"Jack?!" North exclaimed in disbelief. "What are you doing here? How did you get in?"
Jack approached North. He casually shuffled his way in front of me, and I could see the globes both held behind his back. He nudged them towards me. "Well, uh… I was hoping I could sneak in and do some cleaning after the party. You do deserve it after all the work you put in."
North leaned back and scratched his beard with a conceited chuckle. "Well I do…" he trailed off. One of his eyebrows arched, and he fixed Jack with a suspicious glare. "You wanted to clean?"
I crept around the pillar, making sure I was still hidden behind Jack. I reached out for the globes.
"Well…" Jack started, but North interrupted, "What do you have behind your back?"
"Behind my back?" Jack repeated.
I snatched the globes.
At that moment, North shoved Jack out of the way, revealing me hiding in the shadows and clutching two stolen portals.
North glanced back and forth between me and Jack. "What do you think you're doing?" he questioned menacingly.
"I promise, there is a perfectly logical explanation here…" Jack insisted, then added more to himself, "I just wish I knew what it was."
"Oh really? Cause it looks like you are stealing my portals."
Jack shot me a look. I slapped my palm over my face. Time to go. I grabbed him by the hand and shot to the sky window.
"Hey!" North cried. "Get back here! I'm warning you!"
Of course, Jack had to hesitate for a bit of teasing. "Oh come on, North!" he laughed from above. "You wouldn't hurt us."
"Phil, get them!"
The yeti dropped his book and charged us.
Jack's face fell. "But I have been wrong before…"
I rolled my eyes and tugged him out of the window by his hood. We took off into the sky.
"Good thing yetis can't fly," Jack snickered.
The words were barely out of his mouth before Phil appeared from the sky window in a tiny airplane.
"Alright," Jack groaned. "I'm just gonna stop talking."
Phil swerved by, and we had to dive out of the way to avoid his reach.
I pointed urgently to the portal in Jack's hand before Phil charged me and forced me to duck out of the way.
"Right!" Jack exclaimed. He drew the snow globe to his lips and then whispered, "The Isle of… what was it called?"
I slapped my hands on my head, then waved my arms.
Jack pursed his lips. "Um…" he smacked his forehead with his palm. He perked up. "Right! The Isle of—"
Just then, Phil came rushing for him. Jack managed to dodge the mini plane, but unfortunately, the globe slipped from his grasp. It plummeted towards the earth.
I threw my hands up to my cheeks. Jack and I exchanged a glance, and then we both nose-dived for the portal.
Phil appeared beside us. He reached out for the portal.
It plunged just an arm's length away. The ground was getting closer… the wind was whipping past my ears… Almost… Almost got it…
Phil finally veered up. Even Jack yelled nervously, "Sandy!"
My arms folded around the glass dome. I skidded to a halt and wiped my forehead. Everything was still intact, and it was ready to be shaken.
Jack slammed into my back. The two of us hurtled for the ground, screaming.
I handed Jack the portal. He shook it again, shouted, "The Isle of Stranded Souls!" and threw it at the ground. It exploded in dazzling fireworks of spinning light, and the piles of snow morphed into palm trees and sand.
Jack and I plunged directly through the gateway.
