Hey guys, and welcome back to RFL! (Return of the acronym)

First off, review time! Thanks so much to Brenne, rwbygirl, Guest (Aw, thank you! I do try to make my writing feel...well mature, like if it wasn't written by someone who's only fifteen even though...well, it is XD), WickedInk (Heh heh, don't worry, I love angst too, so you just might be seeing some of that at some point...maybe ;) No spoilers!), BooksAreMedicine, XYZArtemis, jackandelsaforever101, OneWhoDreamz (Thanks! :D), Guest, and Scout!

SO! Midterms are over (well...technically I still have a math midterm to do because a power outage happened one day and everyone was sent home but that's not the point), and I'm back in action! All that being said, on with the chapter!

Chapter 28: Training Begins

He had never been a fighter.

Though his magic was strong when fueled by pure emotions or adrenaline, he could never get it to do what he wanted under normal circumstances. Parlor tricks like flurries and snowballs were no problem, but a powerful ice blast would only come to him in moments of extreme desperation.

The one thing that had always come easy to him was flight.

Most humans had no idea that snow sprites were capable of such a thing, simply because the skill was almost never revealed. He understood this, as he knew that flight would draw far too much attention. In addition to this, he quite liked having a secret ace up his sleeve that humans would never see coming.

One problem with it was that he could not fly unless some part of him was touching his staff. It was the conduit for his magic, and his flight ability completely relied upon it.

Every snow sprite possessed such a conduit. It helped them to control their magic, and to harness the power of the wind to carry them. Early on in their lives, they connected with an object, binding it to, not only their magic, but their very soul as well. If the conduit was broken, it would cause the bearer physical pain deep within them.

It was unknown whether or not a broken conduit could be fixed. If it was ever broken, it would be by force, as no sprite had ever been foolish enough to allow it to be harmed otherwise. Whenever an assailant had destroyed a snow sprite's most precious possession, they had always gone for the throat shortly after.

He had connected with a wooden shepherd's crook that had previously belonged to his father. He still clearly remembered the day he had touched the wood surface, only to draw back in awe as frost shot out across it.

While it wasn't as convenient as a piece of clothing or jewelry, having a staff for a conduit would give him a distinct advantage in battle that he couldn't afford to be without. Magic aside, it could also be used as a blunt weapon.

He always made sure to never leave his staff for long if he could help it, not only because of its usefulness, but because it was one of the few things he still had left from home.

()()()()

Jack wasn't sure he liked the Guardians' methods of training. Already, bruises littered his body, and the wind had been knocked out of him several times. North and Tooth had not yet taken their turns, but Aster and Sandy had all but pummeled the young sprite.

As he was flung into the solid trunk of a tree, Jack let out a less-than-masculine yelp, which was promptly cut off upon impact. He groaned as he pushed himself up, the snow on the ground soothing his aching body, but doing little to nothing to heal his pride, which had been shattered many times over in the span of a little over half an hour.

Aster snorted loudly, his smugness clearly portrayed through that one singular sound. "Is that really all ya've got, mate?" he taunted. "What happened ta the wrath of the snow sprites, or whatever ya were goin' on about a while ago?"

Jack coughed and glared up at him. "Sh-Shut up, kangaroo," he growled, getting to his feet. "I never said I was a good fighter…"

The Pooka rolled his eyes. "Figures. This is the kid who's supposed ta help us beat back Pitch!? Has the Tsar lost his mind!?"

Jack opened his mouth to retort, but North beat him to it. "Ah, Bunny, do not worry! Yes, he is not strong now, but is why we are training! Later or sooner, he will be strong enough to help effectively."

"Sooner or later, North," Tooth whispered.

"Is what I said."

"With all due respect…" Jack grumbled, leaning heavily on his staff. "What the hell are we doing right now? How is beating me up helping me learn how to fight?"

"Ya know, mate, I think the point is ta have ya fight back," Aster replied sarcastically, Sandy nodding in agreement-though his expression suggested more sincerity than the taller Guardian's.

The boy heaved a long-suffering sigh. "That might help if I...I don't know...knew how to do that! I'm more used to running than fighting! I mean, yes, my magic works well in desperate situations...but this is not one of them!"

Aster arched an eyebrow. "Desperate situations? What the hell are ya talkin' about? Snow sprites can use their magic at any time, can't they?"

"Well, maybe if there were any adult snow sprites from my village left alive to teach me how to properly utilize my magic, this wouldn't be a problem!" Jack snapped. For some reason, he greatly enjoyed the guilty expressions on each one of the Guardians' faces. It was particularly satisfying to see Aster's glare waver, if only for a moment. Jack couldn't help but smirk.

I'm normally not one to enjoy others' negative emotions… Jack thought. But after all that's happened, I can't take it anymore...my satisfaction is-dare I say it-justified.

"Jack, we're only trying to help…" Tooth told him soothingly.

"You've mentioned," Jack deadpanned. "Now, if the two of you are done pummeling me, I would appreciate it if you skipped the pre-test and got straight to the lesson. I clearly know little to nothing about fighting, so why bother with this?"

A few images appeared over Sandy's head; a snowflake, crossed swords, an arrow pointed down at himself, then a thumbs-up. But when you and I fought, you did fairly well. A few more images. And when the Nightmares attacked, you held your own.

Jack sighed slightly. "Do you really think I had any idea what I was doing on either occasion? 'Twas pure luck that kept me on my feet for that long! Besides...you emerged as the winner of our duel, and all of you helped with the Nightmares."

Nothing was said for a long few moments, until North's deep voice sounded. "Ah, no experience is no problem! Best way to learn is through practice! Here…" The man unsheathed his swords, pointing one of them at the boy. "Let us fight. Do not worry about technique, just do what you can to win, yes?"

The young snow sprite frowned, unsure of whether or not to agree. He was already beaten up fairly badly, courtesy of Aster and Sandy, and from what he had seen, Nicholas St. North was an excellent swordsman. Still, it wasn't as though he had much of a choice.

"Fine…" Jack muttered bitterly as he shifted his weight to one leg, holding his staff across his chest in a battle position. "Just don't kill me or anything."

North released a hearty laugh and nodded. "Ah, there is nothing to worry about! I am professional."

Jack rolled his eyes, heaving a long-suffering sigh. "I'm sure you-AGH!" The boy yelped and jumped back, only narrowly avoiding having the top half of his head sliced off by the shining blade North had swung at him.

"You have good reflexes!" North laughed, nodding in approval.

Right, because that was the epitome of 'professional'... Jack thought, breathing heavily as he recovered from the scare. Is he trying to kill me!?

"What the hell was that for, North!?" he shouted aloud through gritted teeth. "I wasn't ready!"

North chuckled. "Ah, Jack, on battlefield, you must always be ready! If I was bad guy, you would be dead now! Always pay attention to surroundings, yes?"

"I'm beginning to question your methods of teaching…" Jack mumbled, but no one responded. Instead, he cried out again as he was forced to dodge yet another sword swipe from the Guardian of Wonder.

"Attention, Jack, pay it!" North chided him good-naturedly. "Did you forget already?"

"No, I-AH!" He dodged a slash. "Listen, North, could you-GAH!" Another one. "North, I'm serious, just-AGH!"

To dodge the third strike, Jack performed a standing backflip up onto a large, snow-covered rock behind him, then glared down at the red-coated man before him. "Could I get a sentence out!?" he asked frustratedly.

He was met with no response, as the Guardians were too busy staring at him. He waited a long moment, then sighed exasperatedly and said, "You know, if you have something to say, you can just say it."

North was the first to break the Guardians' synchronized silence. "Oh, is nothing! Only...you are very agile, Jack. You did backflip without second thought! Most cannot do that."

Jack rolled his azure eyes. "Really?" he deadpanned. "That's what you're all so stunned about? I've spent six years of my life running from hunters; dodging projectiles, finding the best hiding spots, navigating places where they wouldn't be able to reach me...did you honestly think I wouldn't have the ability to do something like that?" His dark eyebrows crept up to hide beneath his snowy bangs as he asked skeptically, "Or do you still see me as a mere child incapable of doing anything on my own?"

The Guardians were quiet.

Jack was quiet.

Everything was quiet.

Then, Jack started to laugh.

It wasn't normal laughter that bubbled past his lips. It was hysterical, broken laughter, brought on from both the ridiculousness of the statement, and the anguish from every painful event since arriving at the village finally escaping. Jack nearly fell off the rock he was standing on a few different times, but managed to right himself and keep laughing.

I must sound insane… he thought, but found himself apathetic towards the idea. His eyes were closed as he laughed, but he could imagine the unease on the Guardians' faces as they watched the boy's mental state appear to deteriorate rapidly.

"Y-You…" he stammered through his laughter. "Y-You actually still think of me as a kid!? Even after all that's happened!? HA! You Guardians are even thicker than I thought! I haven't been a kid since I was eleven years old!"

Suddenly, his laughter abruptly died and he glared daggers at the four Guardians before him. "I'm not a child…" Jack said in a cold, dangerously low voice. "...so don't treat me like one. Understand?"

After a long silence, Toothiana said quietly, "Yes, Jack...we understand."

Jack nodded in satisfaction and forced his emotions back down into the dark depths of his heart where they belonged. "Now...I'm ready to fight."

()()()()

Though the training session had to have only lasted around an hour or two, Jack emerged having learned far more than he knew before. First, he learned that, when Aster and Sandy had teamed up to fight him, they had been holding back. Clearly, they had taken Jack's demand to not be treated like a child as an invitation to go even harder on him, and North and Tooth had joined in on this as well. Despite the fact that his entire body ached, the boy found himself not minding. After all, if the Guardians didn't give it their all in training him, how was he going to stand up to Pitch Black?

Second, he learned that his battle instincts weren't as terrible as he had originally thought them to be. As North had praised him for earlier, he did have excellent reflexes, and could aim projectiles almost flawlessly. At one point, he nearly knocked Aster out with a snowball that he had frozen into solid ice. Jack figured that, if he had aimed for right between the Pooka' s eyes rather than the side of his head, he could have easily killed him. This bothered him quite a bit on a moral level, but even he could admit that in battle, it might prove useful.

Finally, he learned that, while individually, the Guardians were already masters of battle, they fought much better when working as one cohesive unit. In the last twenty minutes of the session, the four had teamed up in order to test how well Jack would do when fighting a group of opponents. Needless to say, he didn't last long. For the vast majority of those twenty minutes, the boy was fast asleep, having been nailed in the face with a ball of dreamsand early on whilst he was busy trying to dodge one of Aster's boomerangs.

The Guardians had eventually woken him up, but the effects of the sand lingered. Jack could barely even stand up without leaning heavily on his staff, and so the training session ended there.

That night, North carried a half-asleep Jack into the blue tent they had pitched for him and laid him down in the blankets on the ground. As the man left to rejoin the other Guardians, Jack found himself curling up slightly, sleep lingering at the corners of his mind, ready to pounce forward and take him.

He groaned softly. He knew that, based on how much his body hurt now, he would be incredibly sore the next morning. Still, it wasn't like he could avoid that by refusing to sleep.

I assume there will be more training sessions like this before we actually take on the Nightmare King… he thought. He found that, surprisingly, he didn't mind. I can't believe it, but...I sort of had fun with that.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, Jack sighed and banished it. Never mind...I must really be tired if I'm thinking things like that...I'm never able to have fun anymore, why the hell would training with the Guardians of all things change that?

Heaving another sigh, Jack curled up even more, closing his crystal blue eyes. Within minutes, he was enfolded in sleep that, amazingly enough, was completely nightmare-free.

And that's that! Hope you guys enjoyed, and I'll see you all next week for Chapter 29!

Until then, Sapphire316, out.