Hey guys, and welcome to the longest-yet chapter of Running for Life!
As usual, big thanks to the reviewers! This time around, thanks to TreeOfLife1997, Guest (Though I hate to make you cry, the fact that you look forward to the next update means a lot to me :), queenlaur (Thanks! And you shall see, all in due time), 1, SilverSkies1524 (Who knows? No spoilers! :D), Brenne, justsomeone, Viny (Well, technically he does still want to fight. However, what he means is that he'd ultimately prefer dying free over living enslaved), TheRYU, and Guest (Well, here I am now!)!
With that done, nothing left to do except to get on with the chapter!
Chapter 7: Preparations
"You four must be extremely desperate for help if you're willing to accept me on your team," Jack deadpanned, leaning against the wall that separated the interior of the castle from the courtyard in which they were now situated. He was now facing the Guardians with an icy blend of contempt, amusement, and bitterness. He had decided to rebuild his usual wall of confidence and sarcasm, leaving no room for anyone other than Sandy to even consider that he might be a bit lonelier than he dared let on.
Aster crossed his arms. "Who says we're willin'?"
"Aster," Toothiana reprimanded harshly.
Despite the Pooka's scathing tone, Jack only smirked. "No, the kangaroo's right," he said matter-of-factly, fully aware of the fact that he was now treading on dangerous ground. Thin ice, even.
"What!?" The Guardian lunged for the boy, not noticing the sprite's suddenly tensing muscles and the wild look in his eyes in response to the attack.
"Bunny, is not time!" North exclaimed as he wrapped his large hands around Aster's wrist, holding him back. The man waited for his fellow hunter to take a few deep breaths, then released him once he deemed the rabbit-like creature calm.
Jack gave a smirk. "Well, someone is rather touchy today, hm?" he taunted. Arrogance was just another one of his many masks put in place to hide the vulnerable child beneath the surface. "Anyway, I would just like to make this clear." His expression hardened. "I want you to realize that I know how these things work. I'm going to go on some epic quest with the four of you, hating you with every fiber of my being at first. Then gradually, I will learn to see you as the friends I never knew I needed, and perhaps we'll throw in a bit of self-sacrifice at the end for fun, yes? Of course, everything ultimately works out perfectly and we all ride off into the sunset, living happily ever after. Right? 'Tis what you're all thinking, correct?"
Tooth rubbed her arm awkwardly while North took on a sheepish expression. Sandy pursed his lips and looked up at the ceiling while Aster only scowled.
Typical, Jack thought, unimpressed gaze sweeping over each of the four immortals before him. Funny how they started off hunting me and now that they're told I am going to help them, they've suddenly turned on a dime and are all for forming some kind of "long-lasting friendship" that's sure to change all of our lives. At least Aster's somewhat sane...in that regard, anyway. He heaved a near-silent sigh as he sensed the Guardians' gazes return to him. If I go with them to accomplish something like stopping the Nightmare King, there's almost no way to avoid growing attached; that is simply how the mind works. But this is no fairytale. I am...I am a criminal, and they are the Guardians of Childhood. They wouldn't remain by my side even if I wished to remain by theirs. The only way I can stop the otherwise inevitable is to escape, and quickly. I'll need to find a moment when I can slip away, lest I find myself brainwashed into caring. I doubt this will be anything even resembling easy.
"Jack," Tooth's voice cut into his thoughts. The boy looked up at her, blinking twice and trying to remember if she had been speaking before.
"Ah, what?" he asked thickly, very much desiring to bludgeon himself over the head with a blunt object. If they even slightly suspected he was planning another escape attempt he would be done for. From now on, he would need to save the scheming for when no one was watching.
What a difficult task for someone who was still technically a prisoner.
"I said, we're not asking you to like us," Tooth said, ignoring Aster's snort. "All we ask is that you help us. If not for our sake, then for the children's."
Jack pretended to think about it, but he already knew what he was going to tell them-and what he wasn't. Children or no, he couldn't see how he would be any benefit in a fight against Pitch Black. As much as he hated to admit it, Jack was little more than a child, and could only willingly perform a few frost and wind tricks; not powerful blasts of magic. Sure, he could use potent offensive magic, but it seemed to only come to him in times where adrenaline coursed through his veins, like when he summoned the pocket of winter during his attempted escape, or when negative emotions got the best of him, such as when he fled from the audience chamber, jagged ice spikes shooting up behind him. Otherwise, he could bring forth little more than a flurry or a breeze. The only exception to this rule was flight-flying had been something Jack had naturally picked up, even from a young age. And even then, what use was the ability to dodge attacks or flee from battle if his offensive skills were incredibly unreliable? It sounded to him like he'd need the full skill set in order to succeed in the Guardians' little quest, and that was something he simply did not possess.
No, Jack knew he was far from capable of accepting the title of Guardian. This in mind, he met the Sister of Flight's eyes and said solemnly, "Very well. I see that I have no other choice, and so I will accompany you for now." Jack was nearly taken aback by how deep and formal he could really make his voice sound, but fought to keep his face a clean slate.
"Don't get too excited, sprite," Aster remarked flatly.
"I could say the same to you, kangaroo," Jack retorted.
Narrowing his emerald eyes and flattening his long, gray ears against his furry head, the Pooka stalked up to the boy. Sandy attempted to stop him, but was blatantly ignored. If Jack hasn't been so preoccupied with the Motorean Guardian leering down at him, he may have laughed at the Sand-Spinner's expression. Unfortunately, now was not the time for laughter.
"Now look here, sprite," Aster growled, spitting out the last word like it tasted of poison on his tongue. "Ya'd better learn some respect soon, or I'll have ta beat it into ya."
"Bunny!" Tooth protested.
Aster ignored her. "First off," he continued. "I ain't a kangaroo. Never have been, never will be. I'm a Pooka. A bunny if ya insist. And ya? Yer nothin'. Yer invisible, mate. It's like ya don't even exist."
"Bunny." This time it was North reprimanding his comrade, much to Jack's amusement.
Hm, I guess you like me now, Jack thought with a smirk. How indecisive you three are. At least Cottontail here is able to make up his mind. He had to admit, Aster's words did sting, but the Pooka was right. Jack was invisible. He had to be, if he wanted to survive.
Still, he didn't exactly enjoy being told he may as well not exist.
"What's the matter, Bunny, don't want my help?" the sprite teased, mindful of the slight warning twitch Aster's left eye had developed. "Well, I cannot say I'm exactly...ah, overjoyed to be doing this either. I suppose we'll both have to grin and bear it, yes?"
Aster opened his mouth to speak again. However, he seemed to decide against saying whatever it was he had intended to say, for he closed his mouth and simply nodded. He stalked back to his original location amongst the other Guardians, though he refused to meet any of their eyes.
"Well, now that that's out of the way," Jack said flatly, his unimpressed expression easily returning to him. He habitually lifted his arm to his shoulder to sling his staff over it, though he quickly remembered that it had long been confiscated. The boy narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to need my staff back. And full control over my horse. And I will not be bound again." He lightly touched his chafed wrists, his lips a thin line that blended in with the rest of his pale complexion. "To make things clear, perhaps I should repeat myself. I will not be bound again."
"Ya ain't in much position ta be makin' demands, Frostbite," Aster growled, threateningly twirling one of his dreaded boomerangs.
"Oh really? I think that I just might be, rabbit," Jack retorted. "I've gotten the impression that, like it or not, me joining you is something of a mandatory thing. If I don't like how I am being treated, I could always just sit down and refuse to move. You've heard of the power a snow sprite possesses, yes? Test me, and I will not hesitate to unleash it upon all four of you."
Jack's eye twitched slightly as he silently prayed that the Guardians wouldn't call his bluff.
Thankfully, this was not so. North and Toothiana shared a nervous glance, and even Aster backed down somewhat. Sandy still appeared skeptical, but, as per usual, said nothing.
Tooth fluttered forward slightly, hands raised in a placating gesture. "Alright Jack," she said, being extra careful to use his name rather than referring to him as "sprite". "We'll give you your staff and your horse, and we won't tie your hands any longer. Regardless of what Aster has to say on the matter."
The Pooka, having previously attempted to speak, closed his mouth in irritation.
"Terrific," the sprite replied in a tone that implied he felt the exact opposite. He blinked as a thought struck him, then stood up straight and asked, "What exactly do you need me to do, anyway? I know that it has something to do with the, ah, Nightmare King, but not much else. Care to enlighten me?"
The Sister of Flight frowned. "But you were there when Tsar Lunar told us..." she said slowly. After a pause, her magenta eyes widened in realization. "Oh...you mean he did not allow you to hear him?"
"Evidently he didn't care to share with me," Jack confirmed, ice creeping into his tone. And for good reason, too, he mentally admitted. When you've done what I've done, there isn't really much within you to warrant trust. Still...he couldn't have known about all of that. I've never once been caught before this, and I never give my last name, let alone my full first name, to anyone. I don't know how he got that information, or why he chose me, but it doesn't matter. He paused. Then, The least he could have done was told me personally what I am to do.
"Well," Tooth began, rubbing her feathery arm awkwardly. "The Tsar told us that the majority of the Nightmare Army is currently hiding in a secret underground lair in Northern Iskald. I'm...not sure if you've known, but children…" Her voice wavered here, but she cleared her throat and continued, tone once again strong. "Children have been disappearing, and it is believed that this lair is where they are being taken."
A shadow of a frown found its way onto Jack's pale face. Children disappearing? he thought, fiddling with the outer stitching on his cloak. How could I not have heard…?
"It has only happened in Kilatai so far," Tooth told him, as if reading his thoughts. "Most of the people in Iskald, Ostea, Motoraus, and even Soluna City have no idea." Her eyes fell as she bit her lip. "Citizens have been urged not to discuss it while we Guardians try to get a handle on things. We...we hope to stop this before it spreads from the region into each of the others."
"Wait," Jack cut in, holding up a hand. "If this 'lair' is in Iskald, why are children from Kilatai being targeted?"
Sandy raised his hand before any of the others could open their mouths. Above his head appeared a string of images, thankfully flashing by slowly enough so that Jack could process each one. Somehow, he got the feeling that the Sand-Spinner was attempting to say something along the lines of, Misdirection. This way, authority figures will be so busy looking for the lair in Kilatai, that they won't even begin to suspect it might actually be located in another region entirely.
Jack nodded in understanding, ignoring the surprised expressions from the other three Guardians as he did so. "'Tis clever," he murmured, cupping his elbow in one hand and bringing the other up to knuckle the side of his face. "I'll admit that much. But out of curiosity, how exactly did the Tsar come across the location of the lair himself? From what I've heard, he never leaves the palace, and you've implied so far that no other man or woman has ever come across it. So how?"
North opened his mouth to speak but Aster hastily cut the man off with a hiss of, "None of your business, sprite." At North's glare, he crossed his arms. "What? Snow sprite or not, we still don't know if we can trust him."
"Smart rabbit," Jack commented offhandedly. "Have you ever considered taking up a career as a professor?"
"Have ya ever considered becomin' a jester, O Humorous One?" Aster retorted.
Before Jack could reply, Tooth interrupted their banter. "Can we stay focused here for more than five minutes?"
North shook his head fondly, smirking in the Pooka's direction. "Ah, you two are acting just like brothers already," he teased.
Aster's emerald eyes narrowed considerably. "Mate, if yer lookin' for a fight, ya may have just found one," he growled, placing a paw on the leather straps from which his boomerangs hung from.
"Apparently not," Toothiana sighed, rubbing her forehead. Sandy rolled his eyes in what was most likely agreement.
"I take it they do this a lot?" Jack deadpanned.
A golden infinity symbol appeared above Sandy's head.
Jack snorted, the slightest trace of contempt finding its way onto his expression. "Figures." He turned his attention back to the Sister of Flight. "Anyway, since I assume you won't answer my question, lest your pet bunny throw a tantrum, answer me this. Why me?"
A slight frown appeared on Tooth's face in response to this. "Why did the Tsar choose you?" she repeated to herself, eyes angled upwards in thought. "I...I admit I'm not sure, really. The Tsars that have made the decision to add a new Guardian have always had a...complicated method of choosing them, but I'll admit this came completely out of...well, nowhere."
"I'll say," the boy muttered. He sucked in a long breath, only exhaling once he had sat down on a nearby silver bench that was of the exact shade and material used to construct every other section of the palace. He pursed his lips, staring down at the ground for a full minute before looking up again. "What do you mean when you say, 'complicated method'?"
It was North, having concluded his brief quarrel with his anthropomorphic colleague, who answered. "You see Jack," he began, giving Jack the sense he was in for a long-winded, possibly philosophical explanation. "Each of us Guardians has something inside us that sets us apart from the rest. Something at our core, something that we must spread and protect. It is our center."
In spite of himself, Jack was suddenly intrigued. "Center?" he asked, sitting up a little straighter. "What...exactly do you mean?" He was starting to get sick of having to ask people to explain themselves. I hope this doesn't become any sort of trend, he thought.
"Ah, it cannot quite be explained in words," North replied theatrically, denouncing Jack's theory of the length of this speech. "At least, not now. Finding the right words can be difficult, no? I will explain, but later, as our quest goes on. But I will say that once you have found it, you will realize that it has been there all along."
The only word that could possibly be used to describe Jack's expression at this point was 'deadpan'. Well, he thought. That told me absolutely nothing. Then, he realized, He's trying to rope me in, get me to wonder about what this 'center' is. He figures, that way, I'll be less inclined to try to run off again. Hm, not a bad plan by any means, I'll give him that, but he'll find that 'tis me that'll reap the benefits of it. I only need to act as if he has succeeded.
Jack forced a smile onto his face, careful not to make it too bright. "Right," he said with a nod. "I must admit North, you have intrigued me. Are you sure you can't tell me now?" Innocent child Jack, you can play that part. Just focus and you'll be fine.
The man's grin told Jack all he needed to know-his act was believable. "I am afraid not, boy!" The Guardian's loud voice contained a dash of triumph within it. "Maybe by tomorrow, I will have thought of way to explain it."
Maybe by tomorrow, I'll be well on my way to somewhere far away from here, Jack thought, gritting his teeth ever so slightly through his stiff smile. Out loud, he said, "Well, if I am going to be forced into working with you, I suppose it couldn't hurt to have something to look forward to."
If the look on Aster's face could have forged a blade, that weapon would have been enough to destroy the entirety of Soluna City with one well-aimed slash. The sprite allowed his smile to trickle into a smirk as he gazed at the Pooka. He most likely expects me to pull something, Jack silently acknowledged. I hate to bolster his ego, but I am going to have to prove him right, and very soon.
"If I might ask," Jack began, shifting his field of vision back over to focus on the less hostile Guardians. "Are we planning on leaving here today? I realize 'tis still early, but it will take time to prepare for travel, correct?"
Sandy nodded, creating images of food, water, and various equipment. Despite the Guardians' immortality, Jack had figured that their 'benevolent' natures would cause them (well, besides Aster, most likely) to care enough to bring supplies for him that they normally wouldn't need themselves. If I'm careful, maybe I can slip away while the preparations are being made…
"And we need to get you a disguise," Toothiana added, much to Jack's chagrin. Or maybe they could so generously involve me in this, he thought as the fairy continued. "A great many people tend to be, erm, disconcerted in the presence of a snow sprite. If you are to travel with us, you may need something more than your hood to conceal what you are."
"My hood worked just fine before," Jack couldn't help but grumble. After a short moment, however, he sighed in resignation. "Fine," he said. "Just nothing over the top, okay?"
()()()()
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Jack," Toothiana sighed. "It's only hair dye."
Jack glared at her. "'Twas not what I meant," he practically growled as he held up a light blue bundle of cloth. "I understand why I need the dye, but you seriously expect me to wear this?"
"Quit yer whinin' or we'll put ya in a dress," Aster snapped from the corner of the room. "Ya ain't some street urchin anymore, got that? Ya ain't gonna go around dressin' like one."
Jack's arctic blue eyes narrowed into somewhat glowing slits. "And you care because…?"
"Well, we gotta look at ya, don't we?"
"You don't 'gotta' do anything," Jack muttered under his breath. Despite this, he couldn't help but glance down at himself, taking in the ragged appearance of his faded white cotton shirt and brown vest. Quite a few holes had been torn in both in the past, and Jack had messily closed them back up with a layer of ice. I suppose I do look sort of like a street urchin, Jack silently admitted. Seems like I've been doing this quite a bit lately, but…
He sighed. "Fine," he said begrudgingly. "But don't expect me to enjoy it."
Jack could have sworn he heard Aster muttering something about the boy being a five-year-old, but let it slide as he stalked behind a dressing screen to change.
Once he was safely out of the Guardians' lines of sight, Jack allowed the scowl to drop from his face in place of a look of pure misery. I can't wait to get out of here, he thought as he undid the strings on his cloak and let it fall away in a ripple of brown fabric. He stared down at himself, realizing that it was the first time he had shed the cloak in...well, at least a year or two.
His vest was the next to fall to the ground, followed by his plain white shirt. Trying not to acknowledge the plethora of scars of varying shapes and sizes that littered his arms and torso, the sprite shook out the bundle of fabric Toothiana had given him.
As expected, it was a sleeveless tunic the color of a mid-morning sky, complete with a matching long-sleeved undershirt of a slightly darker shade, and a silver belt with a crescent moon-shaped clasp. "You may as well be putting me in a dress," Jack mumbled under his breath as he pulled the soft articles of clothing over his head. Lacking a mirror to see his new ensemble fully, he instead smoothed the tunic as if it was a skirt (he nearly cringed at the analogy), fastened the belt around his waist, and peered down his whole body at it. He decided not to question how the Guardians had managed to find clothing that would fit his slim frame as well as it did on such short notice. Probably through another one of the Tsar's "methods", the boy thought, suppressing an eyeroll.
Jack bent down and picked up his vest and shirt, folding them as best as he could (he hoped he had done it correctly). After a moment's thought, he retrieved his cloak from the floor and tied the brown strings around his neck. Just in case, he thought, eyes on his snowy white bangs. Who knew when the hair dye they planned to give him would fade? Unless it was infused with some kind of magic (which, considering the Guardians were involved, it probably was), he wasn't about to put his trust in its reliability. After all, his hood had served him well, but dye? That one was new.
Trying to suppress another one of his increasingly frequent sighs, Jack shuffled out from behind the dressing screen, his eyes not meeting those of the remaining Guardians in the room (North and Aster had apparently found something better to do, leaving only Tooth and Sandy to wait for him). "There," he grumbled half-heartedly. "Are you happy now?"
Sandy grinned and clapped a few times while Toothiana flashed him a smile so bright that he couldn't tell if it was genuine or not. "Perfect!" she chirped. "Now, if you'd like, I can get some of my girls to hold onto your old clothes for you."
"No, you don't need to-"
But the fairy had already held up two fingers to her lips and was now whistling shrilly, which caused one of Jack's elfin ears to twitch irritably. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was instantly met with the sight of what seemed to be multiple hummingbirds flying straight through the glass of the window to his left.
The boy blinked in surprise. "Um-!" was all he had time to say before the little birds were upon him. They trilled excitedly as they flitted close to his mouth, pushing open his lips in an attempt to...see his teeth? Subconsciously, Jack remembered experiencing something similar during his escape attempt, and realized that his tiny attackers were not hummingbirds at all-they were fairies.
Sure enough, when he finally managed to pull himself away from their relentless onslaught, Jack could clearly see their human-like eyes and faces. In fact, they bore a very close resemblance to Toothiana. Bringing the old Guardian stories to mind, Jack figured he could guess the identities of the tiny creatures.
"Your, ah, helpers?" he questioned as he backed away from the fairies, hand held up in front of his face as a sort of defense mechanism.
Tooth beamed. "Right! More formally called the Tooth Fairy Army, of course." Her magenta eyes suddenly widened in something akin to realization and she jumped up, wings beating a mile a minute as she zipped over to the mini fairies. "Girls, girls, pull yourselves together!" she scolded, waving her finger at them. "Let's not disgrace the uniform."
Jack couldn't help sharing a glance with Sandy. "Uniform?" he mouthed inquisitively. From what he could see, the fairies' feathers completely filled the role that clothes in general were meant for, let alone any kind of uniform. The Sand-Spinner only shrugged in response.
"I'm sorry about that, Jack," Tooth apologized profusely between fending off her little helpers. "It's just been so long since they've seen a snow sprite and-well, you know how white your kind's teeth are!"
"I've, er...never thought about it," Jack replied uneasily. The old stories never mentioned this, he thought with a shudder.
The Sister of Flight didn't seem to hear him. "But honestly, even knowing that-oh!-yours are so beautiful! I would've done the same thing these girls are doing when I first met you, but you know, we were kind of capturing you and I figured I had to show at least some restraint! Still, I really do think that-"
Jack jumped, startled, as Tooth and all seven of the fairies that had come through the window fell to the floor in a heap. He stared at the dreamsand teeth that had begun to circle their heads, then at the Sand-Spinner that had caused them to appear. "Remind me not to get on your bad side," he commented after a long moment.
Sandy smiled cheekily as he shifted Toothiana's sleeping form into a more comfortable position. He then lifted her head and slid a pillow of soft, golden sand underneath of it. As for the mini fairies, he produced a similar cushion and laid them all gently on top of it. The little man shot Jack a wink, holding one gold finger up to his lips.
Another long moment of silence enveloped the room.
"So...is a mental illness one of the requirements for becoming a Guardian?" Jack finally asked, only partially in jest.
The Sand-Spinner gave a silent laugh but refused to answer his question, instead taking the boy's wrist (Jack half-heartedly hoped that Sandy didn't notice his wince in response to being touched) and leading him towards the door.
"Whoa whoa, wait," Jack said, resisting the man's pull for a moment. "Where are you taking me?"
Sandy, silent as ever, simply flashed a smile and tugged him away.
()()()()
"So now that we're back in the courtyard," Jack remarked as he glanced around the open area. "Can you tell me what we're doing here?" He was surprised to realize that his face was clear of the scowl he often adopted nowadays. Perhaps Sandy just had a sort of calming effect on people, being who he was.
The Sand-Spinner smiled and held up his hands, signaling for Jack to stay put. The boy shifted nervously as Sandy turned and walked a short distance away. The man bent down, reaching behind a silver rose bush (that had to be artificial, right?) and coming back up with a familiar long piece of wood in his hands.
Jack's cerulean eyes widened considerably. "My...staff?" he asked slowly as Sandy walked back over to him and held the weapon out to him. Jack frowned suspiciously. He silently noted that, by doing this so casually, the golden Guardian was putting a massive amount of trust into someone who barely deserved a drop of it. He could certainly take it and fly away, but that would be too easy. Surely, this was some sort of test? If he had to guess, he'd say that North and Aster were hiding somewhere in the courtyard, ready to ambush him should he try to escape. Besides, flying would mean leaving Zephyr behind, and Jack just couldn't do that to his friend.
So, despite his temptation, he accepted the staff without even a step back. Instead, he settled for asking, "What do you want me to do with this?"
Two golden swords appeared over Sandy's head. They suddenly reared back and crossed, as if being wielded by tiny soldiers.
"You want to...duel?" Jack guessed, discomfort beginning to rise up within him. He would have preferred to have his fighting style (as sloppy and underdeveloped as it was) remain a secret, but the sprite figured that he couldn't refuse. It seemed that he didn't have a choice in anything anymore.
Will I ever have a choice in anything again? he silently asked himself, wondering if he was just imagining the sharp pain in his chest that the thought brought him.
Meanwhile, Sandy had nodded in affirmation and retreated a few feet away, golden sand whips forming in his hands. Jack blinked at the odd choice of weaponry. It wasn't every day you saw whips being used outside of public punishment.
And boy, did he know a thing or two about public punishment.
Though he'd never been caught in regards to being a snow sprite, he had certainly been caught for thievery on multiple occasions back when he had first begun. Because he had been little more than a child at the time, he had been allowed to keep his shirt- and by extension, his cloak and hood that hid his hair and ears-on during the whipping, but it didn't make the blows sting any less. Jack winced slightly as he subconsciously reached behind him and held a hand up to the scars he knew lay jagged across his skin.
Jack noticed Sandy tilting his golden head slightly, but didn't dare respond. Instead, he positioned himself into what he hoped was an acceptable battle stance.
Sanderson's expression told him otherwise.
The sprite tried to bring humor into the situation, a half-hearted smirk finding its way onto his pale face. "Hey, give me a break, little man," he said playfully. "'Tis not like I do something like this very often."
Jack didn't miss the miniscule grin that appeared on the Sand-Spinner's face when the word "'tis" was said. Dropping his smirk in favor of a tight smile and raised eyebrow, Jack crossed his arms and shifted his weight to one leg. "You wouldn't happen to be making fun of my dialect, now would you?" he asked, sounding only partially offended.
Sandy smiled cheekily and shrugged, causing Jack to roll his eyes and smile slightly. Despite everything, the boy actually found himself somewhat enjoying the short man's company. He seemed to understand why Jack was reacting the way he was (though even Jack couldn't quite keep track of all the mood swings he seemed to be having recently. He blamed confusion. And stress. And perhaps a dash of fear, as well), rather than the other Guardians, who were either pushy and forward, or callous and hostile.
North and Tooth both seemed to possess the mindset that led them to fully believe that because they loved what they did, Jack automatically would want to be like them as well. Aster, on the other hand, simply didn't want the sprite to be there.
Jack could agree with that, at least.
The young man was jolted out of his thoughts by the cracking of a whip inches from his person. He nearly panicked as the scars on his back twinged uncontrollably, but remembered where he was and managed to calm himself down all in the span of about fourteen seconds.
Jack lifted his head, gaze having drifted down to the ground, to see Sandy watching him, both eyebrows raised ever so slightly. His stance radiated aggression, and looked far more comfortable than the awkward pose Jack had lowered himself into. He tried to copy the Guardian's posture, but gave up quickly and settled for simply standing up straight.
A golden "3" appeared over Sandy's head, followed by a "2", which was finally replaced by a "1". Sandy's usually warm topaz eyes hardened and narrowed, whips coiling around him like cobras. In response, Jack let out a long, cold breath.
"En garde," he whispered.
I just realized that in this story I've given Jack both pointed ears and a tunic. All he needs is a sword and shield and he'll be saving Hyrule in no time! XD
Anyway, with that, we are done for the day! I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you here next week, same time, same place, for the chapter 8!
For now, Sapphire316, out.