A/N :
AyameKitsune : Thanks!
Xion5 : Yeah, at least nightmares be kind of entertaining sometimes, but nigh terrors are just plain horrible.
lunafrost : Glad you like them! I don't think RotG needs anything romantic, it has far more potential.
Night-Fury1 : I don't know how it is for others, so what I'm going to explain is how I feel about it. When you have a nightmare it's often as if you're watching a movie or from someone else's point of view, things are all messed up and don't make sense and once you wake up you either don't remember everything that happened or quickly realize it's just been a nightmare and can more easily shrug it off. But when you have a night terror, it's more intense, not like watching a movie, it completely feels like reality. You're not in some exotic place, but your own room or wherever you fell asleep, just that everything seems darker and creepier. In a nightmare you can move, scream, fight back, but nigh terrors are also called "sleep paralysis" because you are unable to move when you have them. And the fear you are confronted with really is terrible. You're lucky if you never had them.
Q-A the Authoress : It will get worse...
Moira Colleen : Awww, that sucks. I hate it when that happens. And the lack of sleep those night terrors cause isn't all that great either. *curses them*
LonelyOne : *hugs you* I know what you're talking about, my own thoughts and experiences inspired me to write that chapter. That's probably the reason why I can relate so much to Jack as well.
Moth165 : Thanks a lot! :D
Damnit, he felt drained, as if he had just created a huge blizzard. Even though he wanted to fly so the wind's embrace could comfort him he seriously doubted he was strong enough for traveling across the planet all the way to Australia. Fortunately North had given him the permission to use his magical snowglobes in case of an emergency years ago already. And This definitely was an emergency. At least for Jack. They were stowed in a small room in the storage section of the workshop, all neatly aligned on several shelves. Blue orbs quickly wandered over the impressive collection before grabbing one of them.
"To the Warren." he whispered and smashed the snowglobe on the ground.
Without wasting any more time he stepped into the portal that had appeared and as soon as he passed through it, it vanished together with him.
Jack almost stumbled over his own feet when he jumped out of the portal, hoping that the old rabbit hadn't witnessed his ungraceful entrance. To his relief there was no sign of the furry guardian. Oddly enough he was glad to have a kind of task now, because that would keep him awake, if only for a while.
"Bunny? Buuuuunny? Hey, kangaroo, where aaaaare you?!" he yelled while floating over the lush and flourishing secenery.
"You can't hide from your favourite winter spirit, so come out because I'll find you anyway!"
"Crikey, Frostbite, can ya scale down the volume or my ears might burst from that screechy voice o' yours!"
A cheeky grin inevitably formed on Jack's face as he spotted the owner of the complaint kneeling in front of a field full of red, orange and pink tulip-like flowers.
"The Easter Bunny without ears, that would definitely be a funny sight, don't you think?" he teased and landed right next to the furry guardian.
"Oh, haha. Did ya come here just ta be a pain in the ass again? 'Cause believe it or not, I got work ta do." Bunnymund grunted.
Only now did Jack pay closer attention to what exactly the pooka was busy with. From a basket he took small amounts of flower seed and gingerly placed them in a small hole before filling it with fresh tilled soil. Considering the fact that he was a 6'1 tall anthropomorphic warrior rabbit the sight was nothing short of grotesque.
"You're planting flowers?"
"Ghee, nothin' escapes ya, Captain Obvious, eh?"
"I see you're grumpy as usual." Jack shot back and casually rested his staff on his shoulder.
"Look, if ya wanna stay here ya gotta make yerself useful. I got too much ta do ta tolerate ya just hangin' around and bein' a nuisance." Bunny challenged.
This actually played into Jack's hands. The reason why he came here was to be occupied and while he would have prefered something fun it would be fair enough as long as it prevented him from falling asleep again.
"Alright, what shall I do?" he agreed a little too easily, causing the Guardian of Hope to interrupt his work for a moment just to stare at him with a raised eyebrow.
That's when he noticed the younger male looked unusually tired, dark rings under his eyes being not too obvious yet but undoubtedly present. But he shrugged it off, his surprise about the unhesitant approval of his demand outweighing any sort of concern.
"Kid, ya must be really bored, ain't ya? Whatever, take some of these seeds and start plantin' them on the other side, we're gonna meet in the middle." he instructed and pointed to the end of the patch around 30 feet away from them.
Instead of a snarky comment the frost teen merely nodded, laid his staff down on the soft green grass and took two hands full of seeds before walking calmly towards the spot he was told to start at.
"And don't ya dare ta freeze the ground!"
Monotonous work like this wasn't to Jack's liking...at all. It did little to keep him awake. Digging a small hole, putting the seeds in it, covering them with soil again. The same actions over and over again. His body would have performed them even if his brain had been switched off, he was pretty sure of that. Now and then he glanced at Bunny to see how far he had gotten and fortunately the pooka was far more motivated and faster than him. By the time the whole soon-to-be flowerbed was completed Jack's eyelids had become almost unbearably heavy. He was too tired to take notice of the large rabbit's inquiring stare until he spoke.
"When's the last time ya had a shut-eye, mate?"
Upon hearing that the winter spirit shook his head to clear, or rather wake up, his mind and shrugged his shoulders in an attempt to act casual.
"Recently. But I don't need much sleep anyway."
The Easter Bunny wasn't convinced.
"Well, ya do look like ya need some. Why don't ya take a nap while I tend ta the rest of my work?"
"No, not necessary. And what do you mean? I thought we just finished planting flowers?"
"The Warren is huge, mate, this ain't the only patch I gotta prepare."
"Oh..."
The thought about doing this boring task all day didn't sound appealing in the least. But right now Jack doubted he had another option, mainly because his exhausted mind didn't allow much pondering.
"Then we better continue." he eventually stated and stood up from his kneeling position, picked his staff up and waited for Bunny to lead the way.
The older guardian sighed and guided the teen to the next patch. Shortly after they began to bury the seeds in the tilled soil there as well, Jack had great difficulty with fighting against the increasing waves of fatigue. Once he even fell forwards but could stop himself from landing face first on the ground at the last second. It didn't escape Bunnymund who was inconspiciuously watching him and wondering why he didn't simply take a nap when he was obviously dead tired. After they had finished the patch Jack rubbed his sore eyes and leaned against a nearby tree to rest for a moment. Seconds later he was fast asleep.
Just when he had closed his eyes he could sense it again. Dark, threatening, plain evil. He struggled to wake up but was trapped in this disturbingly familiar paralyzed state. Glimpsing at his surroundings he immediately realized that the Warren had changed completely. It wasn't the lush, colourful and warm spring secenery anymore. It was dark, all variations of plants looking dead and rotten like death itself had touched them, the sky was grey and cloudy and it was cold. Not the chilly breeze of a winter's day, not the cold Jack himself brought with him, no, this one felt so eerie and unnatural it sent shivers down his spine. And there it was, the black shadow, still invisible right now but he knew it was there. In panic he glanced at Bunny who was sitting at a distance of several feet, his furry back turned at him. Like the previous times he tried to scream for help but no sound escaped his throat. He wasn't sure if he even managed to open his mouth. His staff lay only a few inches away from him but was unreachable nonetheless. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move his hand to grab it. The malicious entitiy touched his foot, the tingling sensation on his skin making his stomach turn. It crawled upwards his body ever so slowly, taking pleasure in how terrified he got with every inch it came closer. He couldn't look at it anymore and closed his eyes, trying to focus on something else, something fun, something positive. But it seemed like the shadow's presence nipped any kind of happy thought in the bud. It had reached his chest where it was sitting enthroned now, without actually seeing it he could imagine the gleeful grin on its face. The weight increased, once more doing its best to cut off his air supply, not enough to kill him but enough to make him suffer. Then it reached out to grab his face and-
"Jack? Hey kid, wake up!"
The winter spirit's cerulean eyes shot open, a breathless gasp leaving his mouth as he reflexively pushed away the paw touching him.
"Woa, calm down, mate!" Bunnymund exclaimed and raised his hands in a soothing demeanour.
"W-what happened?" Jack stuttered, still totally out of it.
"Ya fell asleep and suddenly started frownin' and yer eyes twitched. I had a bad feelin' so I tried ta wake ya up but ya didn't react at all until I touched yer cheek."
Bunny wasn't sure if the teen had even taken notice of him while he looked around in fear and confusion, his frantic heartbeat audible to the pooka's sensitive ears. To say the least, he was beginning to get a little worried. So he spoke out the first presumption that came to his mind.
"Did ya have a nightmare?"
Upon hearing the question Jack snapped back to reality and stared at him with wide blue eyes. The following attempt to switch back to his cheerful self was so pathetic he couldn't blame the rabbit for not believing a word he was going to say. He was giving it a try, anyway.
"Nah, just restless sleep I guess. Shouldn't have taken a nap in the first place while there's work to do, so where's that next patch, I'm sure you got more flowers to plant, right?"
Bunnymund, who was still kneeling beside him, gave him the stare. Yep, he didn't believe a word. At all.
"Mate, I can tell somethin's botherin' ya. Frankly speakin'...ya look terrible, as if ya've seen a ghost."
Jack flinched at the mention of a ghost but tried to not show how panicked he was inside. His heart was still beating like crazy while he nervously glanced around to make sure nothing was going to attack him as soon as he stopped paying attention.
"It's nothing, really." he eventually said feebly.
"I don't believe ya."
"Well, that's your problem then!" Jack blurted out faster than he could reconsider his reply.
None of the guardians was supposed to find out. If they did, then they would also find out about the battle with Pitch and that would lead to way too much concern and pity again. Aside from that he really wanted to get away from the image that he was constantly attracting trouble. Even though it was the sad truth. Bunny was close to seeing through him. Too close. And it turned him into defensive mode.
"The only one who apparently has a problem is yerself, mate." the pooka retorted in an unusually calm voice.
For some reason, it freaked Jack out.
"Listen, I don't have nightmares and even if I did, it's none of your business. I can deal with everything on my own, no need to mother me like a little kid!"
"I'd agree with ya if only ya didn't act like one."
"Ghee, okay, then this little kid will leave now. You're no fun anyway and I can imagine better things than burying seeds in dirty ground all day."
Jack was well aware of himself behaving like a grumpy brat but he didn't give a damn. The repeating night terrors and the resulting lack of sleep were tearing his nerves up and patience clearly wasn't his virtue in this condition.
"This attitude ain't helpin' ya ta win anyone's favour, ya know? It's been years since ya joined us, I thought it's been clarified by now that ya can talk ta us when somethin's wrong."
The volume of Bunny's voice raised a bit but it was still steady and composed, like a parent who was teaching their child what was acceptable and what was not. While Jack knew his comrade was right he also felt cornered. A sudden wave of panic took hold of him and he hurried to grab his staff and jumped into the air.
"Nothing's wrong, so stop worrying. See ya later."
And with that he was gone. The Guardian of Hope stared after the quickly vanishing shape of the winter spirit's slender frame and heaved a sigh. He wasn't sure what bothered him more, the fact that something was seriously troubling the teen or that he refused to seek anyone's help. All he could do was hope that Jack would turn around and talk to him or one of the other guardians sooner or later.
A/N : Stubborn Jack is stubborn, what did you expect? :P
