I know I said that I can't write any angsty chapters once Ramadan started (and it already has a LONG time ago lol), but I had no clue that implied to the times when you're NOT fasting, and I wrote all the semi violent stuff before I realized that. I'm still keep keeping this K+ cuz this'll be the only time I write angst.
Btw, I'm using my Restoring Balance headcanon that he can't bleed, so he won't have actual bruises but rather bad welts. Though, THIS SERIES OF ONESHOTS DOESN'T FOLLOW RESTORING BALANCE. Just wanted to clarify that this is parallel to my other fanfics since my last oneshot, Happy New Year, Jack Frost!, was part of the Restoring Balance world :P
Everything hurt. His legs, arms, face, just everything. It was as if fire coursed through his entire being, and judging from the numerous burns all over him, it probably was. If only he could just pass out, so he wouldn't have to deal with all this agony from his inflictors.
Looking around at the now nearly empty field, his cerulean blue eyes glared at the leader of the group of spirits, a Summer spirit named Sid. He was much taller than the others, a staggering 6 ft 5, and if the winter teen had to guess, was also much more powerful. Clad in a pair of dark blue jeans and a red shirt with a thin jacket over it, the man looked almost innocent. That is, until you notice his emerald eyes lit up with malice and the stream of flames wrapped over his hand.
Jack screamed as the grown man struck him in the chest, charring his navy blue hoodie as the heat penetrated through the dense material, soaking into his skin. As he staggered back, he collided against the slight frame of a woman and gasped when she slashed her dagger at his back. He was immediately turned around and tossed to the ground, only to be held up by two others.
"Missed us, Jackie?" The teen faced his attacker, a black haired, Spring immoral who went as Raven.
If her body was a little thinner, and she wore a green dress instead of her pink one with cherry blossoms sewn into the neckline and a sash of white moonflowers at her waist, she would have looked a lot like Mother Nature. Sure Mother's looks constantly reminded him of Pitch, with her being his daughter and all, but she was an adopted mother to him. Thinking about the kindhearted, mother-like Goddess made a small smile grace his face.
However, Raven's green eyes shined with mockery as her voice held false concern, "Or dear, did I knock your head hard enough for you to not think properly?"
"Oh give the boy some slack, Raven," Sid drawled, walking up beside her as he twirled Jack's aged, wooden staff in his hands, "After all, he doesn't stand a chance against us when we have his dear weapon."
Annoyed as the two holding him up tried to burn his arms, Jack barked out, "Shut up and get on with it! I know you two and your minions are here for a reason."
The woman crossed her slightly tanned arms together, leaning back in amusement. "Oh Jackie, remember that there's much more than just the four of us."
Suddenly, Jack's body snapped back as a thick vine full of thorns grasped his waist and flung him to the nearest tree, its multicolored leaves pouring down on him. To his horror, the six spirits that left earlier returned, three females and three males, making a total of ten. Sid laughed at his terrified stare, chucking the staff in his hands into a pile of leaves. The wind promptly picked up in tempest, trying to damper their attempts on hurting him. However, it didn't stop the sprouting vines from wrapping around his arms and legs, effectively pinning him to the bark of the tree. The worn, and awfully familiar toned bark of the tree.
Jack nearly sobbed in joy when he saw the markings within the bark, the letters of a long forgotten language. From them, he knew that this tree belonged to the Nods, one of his pre-Guardian era friends, and they could help him if he sent a message.
The only thing was, how?
"Jack, did you just zone out?" Snapping back to the present, Jack gulped at how close his assailants were, the group standing behind Sid and Raven. Apparently, the former was talking to him. "Well, I suppose you will never know why we're here."
"Wait, why are you here?" Jack asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.
Raven's crooked grin turned into a scowl. "How is it that, out of everyone, an irresponsible, Winter immortal became a Guardian?"
Maybe I want what you have, to be believed in!
Jack's eyes widened as Pitch's words filled his head. "Did you only come out of spite that I have believers now? I could help you get some, if you want. Why, there's some of my first ones outside this for—"
"We didn't come for pity, Frost," Sid interrupted, "We also don't need help from a Winterling."
Another flame nicked his flesh, causing Jack to thrash around. The teen nearly cried out when the thorns on the vines dug into his skin even more, the spikes growing longer as a sprite behind them controlled it. As she neared, Jack got a better look at the newcomer. Only at 4 ft 10, the girl didn't look menacing at all, her innocent looking, yellow dress crisp as a daffodil. His interpretation for her instantly changed when the thorn in her grasp impaled his side, causing a wicked gash to form. If Jack knew any better, he'd be bleeding out heavily if his blood wasn't frozen.
"Did you actually think I'd be gentle?" the sprite cooed, whipping her reddish brown curls back with a sneer, "You know, I'm much older than you think."
"Really?" Jack panted, "I know how sprites age, and you look at least 10."
"Imbecile." Raven sighed when the little one tried to lunge at the bound teen, catching her before she could. "It's fine, Fiona. Don't let the Winter get in your head."
Jack glared at Fiona, wincing when a shock of pain shook his being, the girl looking back with her brown eyes. Their eyes connected for a second before she looked at the woman beside her. "Maybe we should get Felix to start waterboarding him. You did say that he's afraid of drowning, right Raven?"
"Fiona, let the leaders have their fun first," Raven scolded as she withdrew her weapon, "then, it's your turn."
Jack decided that now was not the time to be silent. "Do you actually think I'd let you torture me? What about my friends? They'll kill you off if I don't."
"Friends? What friends?" Sid scoffed, "If you actually think the Guardians are your friends, then you're sorely wrong, kiddo."
Jack blinked. "What do you mean?
"It's obvious that they were using your power. Heck, they're probably just keeping you around because you remind them of Nightlight." Sid laughed when Jack just stared at him in confusion. "They never told you about him, eh? Of course not."
Before Jack could retort, Fiona whined, "Ugh, all you're doing is taunting him! Didn't we come here to teach him a lesson?"
"Not now," Raven snarled at the girl.
She just huffed back, "Fine then, I'm leaving."
Once Fiona flew off, the grip of the vines laxed, just enough to allow Jack to touch one of the markings around the tree. He lightly frosted the swirling runes, causing them to glow a harsh blue.
Raven jumped back once she saw the light. "What are you doing?"
"Calling a few friends." Jack smirked when he heard the twittering of birds. "By the looks of it, they're coming closer. I mean, they do live in Burgess's forest, so I wouldn't be surprised if they show up by now."
"What do we do, Sid?" Raven exclaimed, worry on the edges of her voice.
The man looked at him with fury. "Let him go, we need to get out before the boy's—"
Before he could finish his orders, a swarm of small fairies, all riding on a flock of birds, attacked the gang from all sides of the clearing, rustling the autumn foliage as the wind aided them. They all shrieked as small arrows that grew into full size hit them, shrieked as the warrior fairies slashed at them with their blades. Jack just looked on, thanking the gods that they were his allies and not his enemies.
He beamed when he saw that some branched off to free him. With the help of his powers, Jack broke out of his bonds, snatching up his staff that was held up by six fairies. Joining in the fight, Jack sweeped his staff, sending three spirits deep into the forest. The rest began to flee, except for Sid and Raven, who were frozen to the ground thanks to Jack. Even as a Summer spirit, Sid couldn't melt the thick ice, which left Raven with no luck of escape.
Jack chuckled, dark enough to scare even Pitch, tilting Sid's chin up with the hook of his staff. "And who was the one that said I had no friends?"
Just then, one of the Nods flew up to him, a red feather on his crown. Jack bowed his head in respect. "Hey there, Chief."
After a few twitters, Jack immediately withdrew his weapon from the man's face. "Shoot, I forgot about the Guardian meeting!" He then looked back at his two tormentors, giving them a scathing glare. "Don't ever harm me or anyone I love ever again, or else you will pay."
With that, he freed them from his ice, but stopped the two from leaving. "Hey, mind if you mask up some of my burns and welts? I don't think the Guardians would like it if they saw me injured."
An hour later, with a new, same hued hoodie and injuries half healed and concealed, Jack left the Oak of Sorrows, waving adieu to the Nods and the bound Raven and Sid. Apparently, his buddies wanted to deal with his bullies on their own, so he let them withhold the duo.
Whooping with a mask of joy, Jack slipped inside the Pole from a window kept open for him after he double checked that his hood was still on.
"Hey guys!" the teen greeted his colleagues, swooping down to crouch on an armchair.
His arrival was met by a hard stare, green eyes unimpressed as furry arms crossed together. "You're late Frostbite, by nearly two hours."
Jack faced the humanoid bunny, a Pookan nicknamed Bunny. "What can I say, Kangaroo? I'm a busy man."
He slid into the seat as Bunny scoffed, "What are you going about? Spring is coming soon, so of everything you're as free as North over there."
"Which is never!" Jack retorted, "Remember North is a busy man, unlike you Kangaroo."
"Mate, for the last time, I'm not a Kangaroo. I'm a bunny." Bunny playfully shoved him, accidentally brushing against one of the frost teen's welts. The boy winced slightly, but it wasn't noticed by the large anthropod. "Also Easter's coming up, so I can't waste any time skipping around and waiting for ya, Frostbite!"
"Bah, give boy break." North came up to the duo in his Christmas sweater and black slacks, the burly man clapping his hand over Bunny's shoulder. "He is only teenager. They do this all the time, no?"
"He's an immortal teen, North." Bunny jabbed Jack in the chest, earning a yelp when he touched the gash from Raven's dagger. The Pookan didn't know he hadhurt him and continued, "And he needs to know what responsibility is. If I coulda done it my way, I would spank his arse till he understood."
Jack shrunk back in the chair a little when he heard the word "spank", whimpering slightly as Sid's words came back to him. Sandy, the only person who noticed the frost teen's peculiar behavior, walked up to the boy, a sparkling hand made of gold sand lightly tugging Jack's tan, twine pants.
Ignoring the two's conversation about him, Jack looked down at Sandy, grinning slightly. "Yeah Sandy?"
The short man created a checkmark above his head, a question mark next to it. "Are you okay?"
"Am I okay?" When Sandy nodded his head, Jack answered hesitantly, "I'm fine, why do you ask?"
Sandy made a hyperactive Jack that suddenly stopped moving and began sulking. "You look tired."
"Uhhh, I don't think I caught that." Jack bit the inside of his lip when Sandy moved to pull down his hood, dodging the man's attempt. "What are you doing, Sandy?"
His friend only tried again, causing Jack to promptly get out of his chair. However, Jack placed his weight on his broken leg, a shrill scream coming from his lips as he fell to the ground. Immediately, the other guardians stopped and turned towards him. Tooth zipped to his side, kneeling down as she abandoned her fairies near the globe. Soon, her mini helpers cae to them, twittering in worry.
"Sweet tooth, what happened?" Tooth asked as her dainty hands pressed gently against the boy's leg.
Jack shook his head, using his staff to get up. "It's nothing Tooth, I'll be alright."
"Don't blame the Sheila for worrying," Bunny accused, hopping to him, "And take off that bloody hood!"
"Not happening." Jack swung his head to avoid Bunny's hand, only for his hoodie to be tugged down by a strand of dreamsand.
Jack closed his eyes when the Guardians gasped. From what he saw at his pond, Jack knew that he had some nasty injuries: a burn along his jaw, his right eye swollen with the skin around it red, a split lip, a cut from his temple to his cheek, and topped off with angry red welts.
"Snowflake, what happened to ya?" Jack didn't miss the fact that Bunny called him by a nickname he used to comfort him.
Jack slowly backed away from his colleagues, hands held up. "It's not your concern, guys." He didn't notice that he was heading to his chair till he fell on it, the Guardians swarming him.
The close proximity got him to whimper slightly, and he tried to hold it in but failed. "It's already half healed, okay?"
As if finally noticing Jack's discomfort, North stepped away and called out, "Phil, prepare infirmary room!"
Jack blinked when he was lifted up by a cloud of dreamsand underneath him. "Uh, North?"
"Don't worry, my boy, we will take care of you!" North declared.
Jack didn't even get to say a word before Sandy threw a ball of dream sand in his face, promptly knocking the teen out.
Blinking his eyes open, Jack first noticed how white everything was. The walls looked as if they were bleached, plus the pillows and bedsheets were an eyesore against the metal bed frame. The second Jack shifted in his bed to get a better look around his room in North's infirmary was the second Jack realized he wasn't wearing his hoodie. Better yet, he wasn't wearing even his thin, white undershirt, and he somehow had on a pair of silken, snowflake pajama pants.
Shrieking, the teen fell to the floor in surprise, getting tangled up in all the wires of the machinery attached to him. A second later the door banged open, an annoyed Bunny rushing to him with the other Guardians following his tail. With their help, Jack got back onto the bed, his IV and heartbeat monitor off of him.
Bunny made sure to prop up Jack's right leg, which was in a light blue cast, and to realign the splint on Jack's left arm before saying, "Did ya know you have no heartbeat, Mate?"
Jack blinked for a few beats, then laugh. "Oh gods, did you actually think I was dead?" When his colleagues gave him unimpressed stares, his laughter trailed off. "Oh, you did, didn't you?"
"Bloody yeah, Frostbite!" Bunny exclaimed, "You never told us ya didn't have an ounce of blood running in you!"
"Sheesh Kangaroo, you should have noticed when I didn't smell like blood when I was covered in gashes." Using his good arm, Jack gestured to the bandages wrapped around his chest for emphasis.
North added, "What I wonder is why you were so injured? What happened, me boy?"
"Errr," Jack answered, curling up slightly under his thin, white blanket, "I was—you see—attacked by a group of spirits."
"Why Sweet tooth?!" Tooth fluttered up beside his bed, Jack regretting his next words.
"They always have."
Like a blow to their chest, his friends all became silent. Sandy had no images flashing above his head, North and Tooth weren't fussing at him, nor did Bunny scold him. Jack bit his lip in anticipation for when they'd all snap out of their stupor.
After a while, with the tension between them strong enough to cut with a blade, Bunny broke the silence. "How long?"
The teen looked away. He wasn't one to talk about his dark past, and he knew the Guardians already felt guilty for leaving him alone for so long, but he did owe them for patching him up, even if he was an unwilling patient. "They're just a big group of bullies that've been harassing me for the past two centuries. Typically they attack in groups of five, but today all ten attacked and my staff was knocked away—"
"Ten! And you didn't have your staff?!" Tooth interrupted Jack, glancing at him like a worried mother. "How did you get out?!"
This time he winced, knowing quite well that the Nods would yell at him if he told his colleagues about them. Thinking he was in pain, Bunny placed Jack's leg into a more relaxed position, eying him for his response. "Ehhh, I just managed to get out. They weren't too strong, anyway."
"Not too strong, Frostbite?" the Pooka deadpanned, "I've never seen as gruesome injuries as these since the Dark Ages, and that was when Pitch could corrupt people with a snap of his fingers!"
North met Jack's wandering eyes, reaching out to gently cup the boy's chin. "It is fine if wounded, Jack. Tell us, who were they?"
"It-it's not like you could find them," Jack slightly stuttered, "They're hard to find."
"Frostbite, we don't need yer rambling. Just tell us who they are," Bunny barked back, crossing his arms.
"It's fine, Kangaroo. Anyway, I already dealt with them," Jack explained, immediately imagining what the Nods were doing with Sid and Raven, "I don't expect another attack anytime soon."
"I dunno what sort of logic ya have, but they're going to attack you again. You said it yerself, they've been your bullies for two bloody centuries!" Bunny countered, still looking at him, unimpressed.
"Yeah, but now I'm a Guardian!" Jack responded, "They know not to bother me again."
North sighed at their bantering, of everything Jack needs rest right now. "You can scold later, Bunny. Now, Jack must sleep."
"What? I don't wanna sleep! I just woke up!" Jack whined.
The Pooka merely smirked before stepping back. "North's gotta point, Frostbite. You need some shuteye."
Sandy, who was ignored until now, rolled his eyes at the two, a snowflake and a stream of Zzzs forming above his head.
"I get it, I get it," the wintry teen grumbled, "Can't give me a break, huh?"
Tooth apologized, the fairy hovering in the air, "Sorry, Sweet Tooth."
"We leave now, Jack. Need quiet, no?" North promptly said, opening the door.
"Bye guys." With that, his friends all left, except for the Sandman.
"Really?" Jack looked at the golden man, raising an eyebrow.
Sandy merely laughed silently before sprinkling a strand of dreamsand, a smile on his face as he softly closing the door shut.
Ugh, I hate this SO MUCH, Gods. Ehh, I have an idea for my third oneshot, at least. FYI, the Nods are ACTUALLY canon xD, William Joyce has been hinting stuff for his Jack Frost book, and I couldn't help but absorb the info.
Now, I dunno what to say other than to review, favorite, follow and all that crap.