(Note1: Merry Christmas, my dears! I know this year was suck, but I hope at least this time everyone could rest a little :) )
Summary: The curious case of Jack's missing staff a.k.a. Sandy is the cause of an old, endless debate.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Bunny cried out unbelievably.
North crossed his hands, with a severe look on his face. "Jack, where is your staff?" his tone was kind against how he had behaved earlier with Tooth. It sounded like he would have been asked a child after a missing pie, well aware of what happened, but still wanting to know it from the person first hand. Well, after all, Jack was sure North would be with time just as hard with him as he had been with Tooth, it was just a kind start this time as Jack being the new one in the group.
"I- I kinda lost it ?" it sounded more like a question than an explanation. In the corner of Jack's eyes, Bunny almost fainted. And he tried to close out Tooth's scared cry. Sandy was staring at the Guardians then to Jack, constantly switching his head between the two sides. The dream-guardian seemed quiet and didn't say anything like he would have been thinking. Knowing Sandy without words was brighter than the others all together, Jack was worried, the small man was already suspecting what had happened. Before Jack could have marked the dream-spirit enough and became sure about it, that Sandy was seeing through him, Bunny interrupted him in the middle.
"How could you- how could you 'lost it'?" Jack could take ten to one if he would have said anything else, Bunny would have exploded from stress. "I can't believe it! How could you be this irresponsible? Seriously?!" for a moment Jack thought Bunny was right, but the furry guardian, after all, hadn't been there and couldn't understand… and suddenly an idea formed in Jack, just at the same moment, North took a hand on the tallest guardian's shoulder to calm Bunny down before the Guardian of Hope could have continued his technically well-founded, reasonable freaking out.
"Jack, what happened?"
Okay, so they were furious and worried about getting back the Tooth Boxes, and he needed something to go back somehow, to Burgess and even - so… it wasn't felt good, but he had to do it, he hated lying to them, but he had no other choice. And anyways that was the first time and Jack promised himself, he wouldn't do it again. He hoped that as soon as all would be done, and settled, they would understand why he had said what he was on to say now.
Right now, gazing to the sky, he could almost recall the memory, word to word – albeit it felt like that had happened ages ago. Though, in real, that was like a few days earlier. Jack was wondering about a question in the past days quite much, what if- what if the Moon, or more like the Man in Moon, had chosen him not to help the Guardians defeat Pitch, but rather to help the shadow-man? MiM was after all ancient, he had chosen them all, and he could have seen everything, he could have known more things about them than they, Guardians, knew about each other or even about themselves. He had seen Jack before he had become Jack Frost and… Jack was sure the Man in Moon had seen Pitch before he had become Pitch Black too. After all, North had been right, they all had more layers than they had seen they had. Just as Pitch.
Jack took the – legally – borrowed snow-globe out of his pocket and gazed to it like it would have told where he should go. He was thinking about Jamie's words the whole day. 'Friends always help each other' – well, Pitch wasn't a friend, but if he examined it, the man wasn't an enemy either. They all were just spirits, guardians over something. And technically, Jack didn't know much the Guardians either to call them friends yet. But that detail in real didn't count. He tried to come up with excuses to avoid the plan of what he thought he should do, but after hours, he couldn't come up with a reason why not. And on the other hand, he was right that no one else could have dared to take that step. The more he was thinking about it, the more he was seeing only he could understand Pitch. And he had seen the man's memories. It was just a flash, but the so-called Nightmare King had had a daughter and a wife, and they had been happy. Jack wondered what had happened with them and why Pitch became Pitch, counting with that the reason must have been connected to the memory. Jack was afraid of knowing the truth – and after all, it was fear. 'Fun' had turned him, because fun had led him on his last memory, so 'fear' had to be the kernel of it for Pitch. And it mustn't have been a good omen.
Jack tried to get over that fact and concentrated on the snow-globe. He remembered as he had said, in the lack of his staff, he had needed a free ride, Bunny had tapped on the ground immediately and had jumped into the bunny-hole, laughing 'in your dreams, mate'. Well, Jack understood Bunny had been just pissed off by the staff-situation. So then North had got out a globe from his coat's pocket, warning Jack to take care of it, because 'they tend to disappear lately'. Jack hadn't wanted to point that he had been knowing what the Guardian of Wonder had been talking about. It was quite funny, North had assumed, one of his Jetis had stolen a snow-globe for a few days to 'play two sides' and at the same time creating toys in the North Pole and painting eggs for Bunny. If Jack hadn't been distressed by the whole lying, and consumed by the guilt, he would have laughed at the idea. Sandy had been just eyeing him as Jack had accepted the globe.
As a golden shine mirrored in the globe now, Jack looked up, Sandy's dreams filled the dark sky. Jack was always happy seeing the small man in work, knowing the Guardian of Dreams was sending everyone a peaceful night, without nightmares and- Jack jumped up, almost again managing to fall off the tree (he really should keep in mind avoiding to climb on trees before he would get back his staff). He knew now what he should do. And on the other hand, he hadn't been ever in Sandy's place, he was curious how it would look like. Jack shook the globe and murmured the destination, just at the same time as the golden tendrils were starting to disappear.
As Jack disappeared from Burgess and appeared wherever he was, he gladly realized the touch of wind on his skin, it was like coming home feeling the breeze again, but then… he recalled when had he felt the cold sensation last time. It, now, wasn't the Wind, it was wind, but not as his ally, he was falling!
"Oh, sh-!" he breathed out, but before he could have started to curse about his poor memory and that he again forgot that he was lack of his staff now, something in a sudden snatched him, with a hand of an amorph golden tendril. It slowly descended with him to a much solid surface. As Jack's bare feet touched a golden (somehow stable) ground he was facing with a very surprised dream-spirit. "Hey, Sandy, nice catch!"
Sandy mixed a cacophony of flashes above his head about the whole falling and how lucky Jack was that he was there – or as Jack could catch some of the signs that were the main of the baffling mass, filling with some really tough signs that Jack felt lucky he couldn't understand. Then the golden man cleared the signs and after that, just a question mark was seen above his head floating alone.
"I need your help," Jack confessed. As Sandy studied him, he came along. "In an other thing, anyway, thanks again, catching me." Sandy waved like it would have been nothing, and formed a sand-staff, pointing to Jack "I know, I know, I'm working on that right now. Next time I won't come here without that." Sandy was just marking him, with a look 'we both know that won't happen'. "I promise," Jack said. It seemed the small man believed him, and after that Sandy showed a way.
As Jack followed him, he could in fine examine the place, it was all made of sand, and it seemed like an island formed completely with every inch from dream-sand. Jack wondered as Sandy was hovering beside him, and he was taking steps, how he could have walked on the sand without falling through, but the reason immediately came to his mind: Sandy was making it possible for him. The small guardian made the sand solid under his every step. Jack felt he should have said thank for it too, but the Sandman was behaving as it was really nothing. Then as they reached a seemed-as center, the dream-spirit stopped. Jack almost stepped into him.
"Sorry," he said, but Sandy looked absent-minded and not realizing it at all. The Guardian of Dreams tapped on an overhang of sand with his hand and under the touch it formed into a smaller Bunny, sleeping peacefully. Sandy glimpsed mischievous to Jack with a small smile and moved his fingers. Over the head of the sand-Bunny appeared an Easter-egg dancing with its little limbs and then… a tiny Christmas-tree joined to it, and the two forms soon turned into Bunny and North, still dancing. The sand-Bunny straightaway snapped his eyes, shaking himself from the incredible, traumatic dream.
It wasn't audible, but Sandy was clearly roaring, holding his stomach from the laugh. "Oh, that was cheap," Jack noted, cracking a smile too. "I didn't know you can be like that." Sandy just raised his hands, meaning with time everyone could find fun messing with the others. Jack could only agree. "So, that's how you spend your time, I see," he added, Sandy just waved in the air. "I wonder how much they could thank to you, that they can't stand each other." Jack gazed to the Sandman, who opened his mouth but then closed, caught defeated.
"I won't tell them, okay? Let's make a deal instead." a question marked was formed above the small man's head. Jack felt it was high time to get to business (however he would have definitely enjoyed more time messing with the other Guardians' dreams too, but poorly that wasn't the best time for it to do, maybe next time, he promised himself).
"I need some of your sands." Jack said then. Sandy suspiciously crossed his arms and peered at Jack, just the same way as he had been marking the winter-spirit a few days ago when they had realized Jack was missing his staff. And on the other hand, Jack knew, Sandy was suspecting something that time and…
"It's about a nightmare." before he could have realized whom he was talking to, Jack immediately corrected himself. "I mean as Pitch is not here anymore, fear is uncontrolled and I am afraid that soon, you know- not that the Nightmares would return or anything, just, you know, who knows what happens if fear is got uncontrolled in the long run." As Jack was saying the made-up reason, he awoke to that it wasn't nonsense at all. If fear was Pitch's center (he seriously doubted it) then what would happen if the Boogeyman couldn't take control over that any more? Jack realized if that was the situation then Pitch's role was even bigger in this than he could have earlier assumed. Sandy was quiet, the small man was thinking, floating a bit up and down in the meantime.
"Please, it's really important, I am not saying that-" but then, after a few minutes, Sandy gently touched his hand. Jack stared at him. The Sandman nodded, it seemed as an approval, and something tingling moved under the golden guardian's touch. Then the small man was looking right into Jack's eyes and folded the winter spirit's fingers, with a palm of dream-sand.
Jack was gazing at his hand, blankly, he couldn't know what to tell. Sandy wasn't questioning the reason – was he knowing it? But then again, Sandy faced him seriously. The Guardian of Dreams pointed to himself, formed an eye over his head with a cross, and showed the shadow-man from the dream-sand sleeping, then the sand changed its form to Jack who was stepping inside a beartrap. Sandy looked concerned and once again touched tight Jack's folded hand, shaking it a bit.
Jack couldn't know what to tell. He could easily translate Sandy's message. The dream-spirit was worried he might be walking straight into a trap and- Jack couldn't really understand the first part. Did that suppose to mean, Sandy couldn't see Pitch's dreams? After all, Pitch was the ruler over the nightmares, surely he and Sandy were on opposite sides and couldn't reach each other, albeit their powers were very much alike, like pieces of a puzzle, or more like the two side of the same puzzle-piece. Jack seriously could imagine anything.
Sandy grabbed his hand after Jack murmured a surprised 'thanks'. The Sandman stayed in quite for a moment, but then modeled the same as before with the crossed eyes and Pitch, but added now a little girl holding hands with the Nightmare King, turning the child into a woman and showing the same signs in the same order with her. Jack froze. Did that mean…?
"You- you can't see Pitch's dreams and neither… hers ?" he asked, Sandy nodded. But why would the small man expose her dreams, if- didn't she supposed to be dead ? Jack bit his lips, that was harsh, but Pitch was older than each of them, so… Jack really didn't like thinking about his late family either, and about the fact they had been dead for centuries far, far away that he could reach them, but… Sandy's eyes were full of care and sadness and… Wait!
"Is she alive ?" Sandy was thinking for a moment, visibly dwelled about what he was supposed to say, but then the small man nodded. "Is she alive?! How? " the Guardian of Dreams pointed to himself then Jack and raised his head up to the sky – or more like towards the Moon. "She is like us." Jack put together, whispering the words. Sandy described a very old tale: the small figure of a young girl disappeared from a man's side, and later a grown-up version of her met with the Sandman who asked about her family, but she didn't want to speak about it. With time, they, two became friends. Sandy after the short summary, grabbed again Jack's hand that was holding the dream-sand and formed above his head two figures, a woman and Pitch, slowly moving towards each other.
"You think I can get them along." Jack translated; Sandy coincidently was shaking his head. Not even Sandy was cognizant of this whole, but the small man also was thinking a step ahead and not about just helping the Nightmare King, but also... "Since when are you knowing it?" Jack questioned him. Sandy didn't say anything. The small guardian was knowing – or hoping – it for a long time enough, it was clear or he was just on the same opinion about Pitch as Jack was.
"Thank you," Jack said again and got the snow-globe out of his pocket with his empty hand. Sandy wished him luck with portraying a four-leaf clover above his head. Jack was well aware of what to do, or at least he had now the tool for it.
The end of that damn corridor was just like earlier, dark and massive and endless, just as he left the Lair the last time. Jack surprisedly realized his staff was there too like nothing would have happened since his previous attendance. He right off wanted to grab the now almost completely black and dead staff, his nerves were painfully begging to hold it again, but he hardly managed to collect himself and took control over his aching pleas. Jack rather let the staff on the ground. Somehow without his powers and magic, he felt he could feel better Pitch or his senses at least in this state was rather alive to be in synch with this place. After the whole, it sounded and felt ridiculous that he had dropped it in fear and rushed out of this place out of his wits as he had heard the faint voice calling his name.
Jack tried to crouch to the ground without touching his staff, but also near to it – whatever could happen, after all, he noted to himself by a hollow memory when the Nightmare King had been still a vicious problem and could do anything. Right now it was hardly imaginable. And from that realization, he broke down – like missing the Boogeyman would have caused sorrow, though...
Jack slightly glimpsed to the impassable wall of darkness, it was like nothing changed. He couldn't know what to do, to make a change, but then as he pressed his head to the cold wall in hopelessness, his fist started to shine. He almost jumped in the scare, but then remembered he was holding some dream-sand within his fingers. He wasn't sure it would work or how much effect it would cause, but it clearly worthed a try.
Jack opened slowly and carefully his hand, avoiding letting a bit of sand slipping out from his palm. The dream-sand was still, it seemed in his hand as simple as sand from the desert. He remembered it worked like the Nightmares and he remembered that those were formed by corrupted dream-sand and could kill Sandy… – maybe it was a wrong idea, after all, something told Jack from the back of his mind, but then he raised his hand and blow the sand to the whirling dark mass before he could have changed his mind. As the darkness slowly turned golden in parts where the dream-sand affected it, Jack put his hand on it. Whatever happens, he murmured himself, letting the dream (or nightmare) completely yield over his mind.
(Note2: I am planning to upload the last chapter too within a few days (depends on how much I will be engaged by my family during the next days). I have a little break at the uni and took the holidays off from work, so I had some time write the 4th&5th at the same sitting - only the last checks are ahead for the final chapter -, this time you don't need to wait two weeks for the next update and anyways, consider it as a Christmas present or a last farewell from this 'amazing' year.)