Hey everybody, and welcome back to Running for Life! Wow, Chapter 25...pretty sure I said this before, but they grow up so fast!
Anyway, I'm in a super good mood because I'm officially on winter break! WOO! That aside, you know the drill! Review time! Thanks to Brenne, gammathetaalpha, OneWhoDreams, StarG4zer, Ravenclaw667, Serami Nefera, jackandelsaforever101 (Be glad I'm on the other side of your screen? Oh, you wanna go? XD Haha, kidding!), laurcuna, BooksAreMedicine (Ah, character development is fun. And yep, Jack has terrible luck with these things XD), Guest, Randomly Talented, and WickedInk (Oh God AHHHHHH! *runs from mob*)!
Remember to give song suggestions if you have 'em!
That being said, on with the chapter!
Chapter 25: Learning Everything and Nothing
The point of the arrow pierced his heart. He knew that it did. He could feel nothing but searing pain in his chest as the arrow tore through his skin, instantly puncturing his most vital organ. It should have brought him to his knees, killing him before he even hit the ground.
So why didn't it?
Jack stood, frozen, staring at the shaft of the arrow that sprouted from his chest. He felt the burning beneath his skin and saw the evidence that he had been struck, only...there was no blood leaking from the wound. No red stained the blue of his tunic. His heart continued to beat.
Simon's eyes widened and the demonic presence inside him howled in disbelief. "WHAT!?" he screeched. "How...how did that not kill you!?"
Jack said nothing, instead slowly raising a shaking hand to grasp the arrow's shaft. With a light tug, the arrow came free and the pain vanished in an instant. To his shock, the boy realized that, under his tunic, a crescent glowed silver.
The scar… he thought numbly, recalling the crescent moon marking that had appeared on his skin sometime prior to his awakening after the fire in his village.
"Impossible…" Simon breathed, horrified. "You have the Tsar's protection...you must be the one he-!"
Suddenly, the possessed archer was interrupted by a loud thud. His yellow eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he crumpled, falling awkwardly around the archery brace set up on his left leg. Though still clearly breathing, he did not stand up again.
The young sprite stared at the one-armed archer's unconscious form for a moment before letting his gaze travel upwards to the person who had potentially saved him from another arrow. To his immense surprise, it was Jamie, holding the same plank of wood that Jack remembered him using as a weapon during the first Nightmare attack.
As Jack gaped at him, the younger boy reddened, chuckling sheepishly. "I, uh...kept it," he said awkwardly. "I thought it might be useful later on...um...the Guardians said you came up here a while ago, and I thought you had been here for a little too long, so…"
Jack's expression remained blank for a few more tense moments, then he managed to crack a slight smile. He was admittedly impressed with the younger boy's willingness to go after and potentially save a near-stranger from harm, even a snow sprite such as himself. "And...what would you have done if I had simply been mourning for longer than expected?"
"Um...left you alone?"
The older boy couldn't help but chuckle. He nodded at the wood in Jamie's hands. "Impressive," he said. "But you may want to replace it with something lighter and easier to wield. Flailing it about may not always work as well as it did here." He smiled. "That being said...thank you for your help."
In response to both the advice and the thanks, Jamie nodded enthusiastically. "Got it! And you're welcome!" he said, then paused, turning his gaze to the archer he had just incapacitated. "Um...what do we do with him…?"
Jack's expression hardened. "We have to take him back to the house and show the Guardians," he said. "They're going to want to see this."
()()()()
When Simon awoke, the yellow in his eyes had not faded. Jack, flanked by the Guardians, stood in front of the chair they had tied him to. The boy's features were blank, no emotion present in his eyes, positive or otherwise.
As Jack's crystal blue eyes bore into him like knives, all Simon was capable of doing was curiously blinking back at him. Thanks to Jack's quick thinking, they had been able to get Aster's medicine into the archer's system before he could wake up. The sprite had figured that, considering how open the Guardians had told him he had been under the medicine's influence, they could use it as sort of a truth serum in order to acquire useful information about the Nightmare King. For now, the demon was tamed.
"Hello," the yellow-eyed archer said calmly, the distinct hostile hiss from before absent from his tone.
Jack nodded in response. "We have a few questions for you," he said, anxious to get right to the point. "First of all, who are you?"
Simon gave a giggle and Jack cringed at the thought that he had probably done the same earlier. "I'm Simon, of course…" He giggled again, as though this was the funniest joke he had heard all day.
The boy's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?" he repeated through clenched teeth. "Are you Onyx?"
"Onyx!" Simon laughed. "Ha, no...Onyx wouldn't bother with Simon. I don't have a name though...I'm all unimportant and such!"
Jack frowned, anger subsiding. "So if Onyx isn't the one possessing him…" he whispered to himself. "Who...or what...is?"
"No name, eh?" Aster echoed with a scowl. "That wouldn't happen ta be a lie, would it?"
"Nope! I'm not important enough for one."
Jack frowned, studying Simon for a long moment. "Does...does that mean you're a Nightmare?" he asked. It was the only answer he could think of. After all, there were hundreds of thousands of Nightmares; would the Nightmare King really take the time to name every last one of them?
To his surprise, the possessed archer responded with another, "Nope!"
"Then…" Tooth began uncertainly. "What are you?"
Simon grinned. "I'm a Fearling!"
This statement meant nothing to Jack, but he watching the four Guardians gasp in unison told him that it was far from something meant to be taken lightly. He bit his lip uneasily and glanced at them, feeling his apprehension steadily growing. "Ah...what's a Fearling?" he asked hesitantly.
North was the first to break the silence. "A Fearling is…" He trailed off. Jack had to wait a few moments, but the man eventually continued. "A Fearling is...ancient creature. More ancient than us, more ancient than Pitch. Is pure fear...is far worse than any Nightmare. Sandy is only one who can stand against them, and even he can't kill them completely...only cast them away from person they are possessing."
So Simon can be saved… Jack thought idly. However, the thoughts populating the forefront of his mind were not so optimistic. Pure fear...worse than any Nightmare...even Sandy can't destroy them...and yet the Nightmare King has these on his side? If all of that is true, then what we're fighting here…'tis a losing battle…
Aster picked up where North left off, unaware of the thoughts swirling through Jack's mind. "If Pitch has found a way ta enlist Fearlings...then we're in trouble. More importantly though, the kids he's captured are in trouble…"
Jack frowned, cutting off his earlier thoughts to consider this. He turned to Simon and said firmly, "Tell us what the Nightmare King wants with the children he's taken from Kilatai."
Simon laughed. "Not just Kilatai…" he said. "He's gonna get some from Motoraus and Ostea too...and he's working on Iskald now!"
"What does he want with them?" Jack repeated, feeling his fingers curl tightly into fists, though he kept his voice calm.
The possessed archer shrugged. "He told me not to tell...but they're all turned snow sprites!"
Jack stiffened, eyes widening slightly. That's why...that's why he wanted Olivia...because she was once a snow sprite that he turned human. But why would he let them go only to want them back again shortly after!? This doesn't make any sense!
The young sprite was silent for the rest of the interrogation, lost in his own thoughts. He later found out that, no matter how hard the Guardians pushed, the Fearling possessing Simon would tell them no more, instead giggling about how he "wasn't supposed to tell". This frustrated Jack. He had discovered so much and yet so little at the same time, and he wanted to know more.
Over the next few days, more interrogations were held, none of which Jack attended. While the Guardians were questioning the drugged-up Fearling, the boy simply wandered the house, talking to no one and trying to puzzle through the recent events alone. He sometimes ran into one of the Theners or the Bennetts as he absently strolled the halls, but paid them no heed. He kept his hood low over his eyes, pretending not to see nor hear them while passing right by them. Eventually, they learned to not even try to speak to him, for it would produce no results.
After three days of obtaining absolutely no new information from the Fearling, the Guardians decided to accept that keeping it would help them no longer. Sandy managed to pull the demonic creature from the archer's body, trapping it in a jar made from dreamsand as Simon went comatose in order to recover from the possession. Within its container of purity, the Fearling could not break free and wreak any more havoc.
It was on this day that Jack decided to ask the first question he had come up with during the course of Simon's possession, one that he wasn't completely sure the Guardians would be able to answer. Still, he had to try. Feeling the most comfortable with Sandy, he got the little golden man alone and brought him into the hall where they could discuss matters without being overheard.
"Sandy, I...I need to ask you about something," Jack began, a slight frown on his pale face.
Sandy returned the frown, but nodded, gesturing for the boy to go on.
"Well...it was before Jamie and I brought Simon back here. Directly after Simon was possessed...he shot me. With an arrow. In the heart." Jack shifted his weight from one leg to another, awkwardly awaiting the Guardian's response.
Sandy, of course, was silent, but his mouth fell open slightly. He stared at Jack with wide topaz eyes, a single golden question mark appearing above his head.
"I don't know how I survived it…" Jack sighed. "Though...once I pulled the arrow out...I saw it. 'Twas...a light. A silver, moon-shaped light on my chest. A long time ago, I...got a scar there. A crescent scar. To this day, I don't know where it came from, but...Sandy, it glowed. And then the Fearling called it 'the Tsar's protection'..." Jack frowned. "What does that mean…?"
If possible, Sandy's eyes widened even further. Without wasting any time, he quickly flashed up dozens of images in rapid succession, making Jack's head spin as he tried to understand them. Somehow, however, he was able to divine the basic gist of what it was the golden man was trying to tell him.
That's extremely rare… Sandy told him. You see, the Tsar possesses magic...part of which is, if he so chooses, he can place a mark on an individual-what you thought was a scar-in order to keep them safe from...well, anything specific, really, but in this case, it must be from the Nightmare King and his minions. It doesn't last forever-I'd say it can only activate twice more before it fades-but for now...Jack, Pitch may be able to hurt you, but no matter what he and his minions try...they can't kill you. Sandy frowned slightly, then looked up at Jack quizzically, forming a few more dreamsand images. When exactly did you receive the mark…?
Jack's heart was pounding as he processed the information the Guardian of Dreams was relaying to him, but he managed to swallow his questions and reply, "Ah...six years ago. Just before I started running…"
Sandy considered this, then nodded. Above his head, a golden snowflake appeared, then a Guardian "G" symbol, which was followed by a clock with hands that quickly spun backwards. It seems like the Tsar decided you were to become a Guardian far sooner than we may have realized…
Poor Jack, he keeps finding out things, only to be missing even more pieces of the puzzle. Ah, well, he'll find more out sooner or later! For now though, I hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you next week for the next chapter!
'Til then, Sapphire316, out.