Author's Note: I don't have a new chapter ready to go yet since I wasn't able to write at all during the week this time. So to tide you guys over for now, here's another interlude! I have to admit I kept getting distracted by this whenever I thought about the plot, so I knew I had to write this one out. Then it seemed mean to just sit on it while I worked on an actual chapter, so here you go. Jack is speaking a bit more formerly still since it was so long ago. I figured Jack probably had a lot of issues when dealing with other spirits since he was ignored for so long. Jack's early life as a spirit is so sad. :( Next Interlude will feature Tooth's fairies and then after that, it will probably be Phil and then Bunny, since I doubt 1968 is when they first met.
Interlude Seventeen: Meeting Sandy
Jack's belief had been at an all time low after that disastrous Christmas. The Guardians had lamented the fact that the blue light had almost gone out but were astonished when it had finally left Antarctica and zoomed off to other continents.
They kept a close eye on it over the years but were saddened that it always remained dim. North had noticed that it always seemed dimmer after Christmas, but there was nothing he could do since he didn't know what child that blue light was. He tried to make Christmas extra extra special for everyone in the hopes that he would accidentally help the blue light too, but he seemed to always miss that child. It was so frustrating!
So it was several years before the blue light changed at all from its usual dim status. Unbeknownst to the Guardians, Jack had decided to keep to himself after that. Especially since his first meetings with spirits had been so awful. After his first winter, he had seen Leif out creating spring flowers.
When Leif had actually acknowledged him, Jack had become so excited that it instantly started snowing. Leif had become enraged that his precious flowers were getting frozen and had chased a stricken Jack away from his field of flowers. Since Jack was so upset from the encounter, Winter had been extra long that year.
On Jack's first Summer, Jack had gotten lost while trying to find somewhere cooler to stay. He was looking around when he spotted August at the same time August had spotted him. August only had to take one look at the white hair and unnaturally pale skin to realize just what Jack was and had started shouting at him right away.
Jack raced off before anything else could happen, but his emotional state still caused it to snow. The people that year had been frightened of all the strange snow they had been getting and was speculating that the world could be ending.
That Fall had been no better since Jack had seen Jasper and had been amazed by him. Jack had kept his distance since he remembered seeing all the other Seasonals and how terrible that had been. But now Jack had found someone who looked almost just like him, and was this guy painting the leaves on trees?
Jack had found himself getting closer and closer to Jasper, and before he knew it he was almost right under the tree Jasper was working on. Jasper himself had no idea he was being watched and had been humming a merry tune while he painted. But when Jack's control of his powers slipped and Jasper felt the first snowflake hit his nose, he blinked and looked around.
A quick look at the sky revealed the darkening clouds and the many snowflakes that were now falling. Jasper's expression darkened when he noticed that a blizzard of epic proportions was starting up and then he spotted a sheepish Jack trying to make a retreat and he lost it.
Jack had fled with Jasper's shouts ringing in his ears. Jack didn't know what Jasper had meant by some of it. What did it mean when Jasper said he was just like Mistral? But Jack had understood the intent. Jasper meant that he was an awful Winter Spirit and he would never be any good at his job. Jack had been rather hurt by the Seasonals and so he vowed to never bother them again.
It took Jack almost thirty years before he dared to try interacting with anyone again. They were some of the loneliest years of Jack's life as a spirit. It had been winter and Jack was sitting on a roof of a house, looking gloomily up at the moon. After that first time when the moon had told him he was Jack Frost, it had never spoken to him again. Jack had sometimes talked to it, first asking and then demanding why he was here if everyone hated him? But the moon never answered him back.
So now Jack sat on the roof, his knees pulled up to his chest as he held his staff in one hand. A light snow had started since this town was due for a snowfall. After Jack had been yelled at by Jasper, he had tried his very best to not make any out of season snow or any heavy snowfall. Even years later, he could still hear Jasper's final cry of "You are nothing but a murderer!" ringing in his ears. So Jack had tried his best to prove Jasper wrong.
He didn't use his winter to kill. He wanted it to be beautiful and fun. Jack watched the light snow fall and sighed to himself. Sometimes he wondered if Winter would be better off without him. He felt the Wind ruffle his hair and whisper soothingly to him and Jack smiled a little at that. The Wind always knew when he was feeling depressed and would try to cheer him up.
At least he had one friend.
Jack's musings about the Wind were cut off, however, when he saw a golden trail of something flying through the sky. Jack had seen these golden tendrils a lot over the years but had never investigated them for fear of having someone else yell at him. Now curiosity was getting the better of him, especially since one flew right over his head. He carefully reached up with his free hand and let his fingers trail through the tendril.
He was startled when the tendril felt dry and grainy, like sand. He was also startled when images burst forth. He saw golden dolphins emerge from the sand and fly around him playfully. Jack couldn't help but smile at that since he had always wanted to see dolphins up close. The weather was just too hot for him by the ocean though, so he never had a chance.
When he stuck his hand into the golden sand a second time, he saw the golden image of two people: one himself and the other that looked exactly like him. The smile slipped off Jack's face when he recognized it as Jasper. Instead of yelling at him though, Jasper was patting Jack on the back and the two appeared to be talking.
Jack let his hand drop back down with a sad sigh. He knew that would never happen. He glanced back up at the golden tendril though and couldn't resist touching it once more, curious as to what the other images would be.
This time, it showed a golden Jack all by himself, with his hair being blown about by the wind, a large smile on his face. Jack instantly knew that the golden Jack was listening to the Wind. Wind was probably telling him where to spread snow or else telling him that some day he would find a friend. Wind was always telling him that, especially when he was sad.
Meanwhile Sandy was floating on his golden cloud, watching with satisfaction as the golden streams of dreamsand went from house to house, spreading good dreams to all the children. However, he could feel something was off with one of the streams. He frowned a little as he could feel something was messing with his dreamsand. That was odd since that had never happened before.
Curious about this new development, Sandy quickly located which stream was being messed with and followed it towards where the disturbance was. Sandy was startled to see a boy sitting on a rooftop. He was wearing a brown cloak and brown pants with no shoes on his feet. Sandy was concerned until he spotted the mop of white hair and the unnatural paleness of Jack's skin.
Sandy realized that he must be a spirit. He watched the boy as the boy was looking at the images in the dreamsand, a smile on his face.
Sandy carefully flew closer on his cloud and waved cheerfully at the spirit. The spirit, however, didn't catch Sandy's friendly smile and flinched when he spotted the little golden man.
"I-I am so sorry!" Jack said hastily when he spotted Sandy. He clutched his staff to himself with wide eyes. "I just wanted to.. I did not mean.. I.." he trailed off, at a loss on what to say.
Sandy saw how flustered this spirit was getting and quickly waved his hands reassuringly before giving Jack a big smile.
Jack continued to clutch his staff to himself as he looked at Sandy uncertainly. He had never had anyone smile at him before. Wasn't this when the yelling was supposed to start? Why wasn't this little man yelling at him for messing with his golden sand?
Sandy for his part, just continued to sit there as he floated silently on his cloud. His smile had turned a little sad at Jack's uncertainty. He waited until Jack had finally relaxed from his tense posture and stopped clutching his staff tightly to himself.
Finally, Jack couldn't take the continued silence and decided to talk to the strange little golden man.
"Who are you?" Jack asked him, his voice soft. He felt the Wind ruffle his hair comfortingly and relaxed a little more. Wind always warned him when he was near anyone unfriendly.
Sandy's smile grew and a golden image of a beach appeared over his head followed by the golden image of a man. It was what Sandy always used to describe himself.
Jack tilted his head as he stared at the two images floating over Sandy's head. Why didn't he just tell Jack? Jack stared at the golden beach and then at the golden man.
"Sand.. man..?" Jack said, half question and half statement.
Sandy nodded enthusiastically and clapped his hands. Normally people didn't get that on the first try. This spirit must be very smart!
"I do not know what that is," Jack said with a sad sigh.
After that horrible first year and that terrible Christmas, Jack had kept his distance from everyone. He no longer eavesdropped on the children or engaged them in snowball fights. He spread his snow from a distance and told himself it was better that way. At least this way he wouldn't get hurt.
Sandy paused as he tried to think of a way to describe what he did, but then he smiled again and beckoned Jack to follow him. Jack didn't really want to follow after this strange little golden man, but the little man had flown off.
Jack stood on the roof, debating on whether or not to follow when the golden man came back and gestured at Jack to follow again. The Wind gave him a little nudge as well and Jack reluctantly asked the Wind to help him follow the man. If Wind thought he should do it, then he might as well.
Jack followed after Sandy reluctantly and was surprised when Sandy stopped right outside a window. Sandy pointed at the window and Jack peered in, kept aloft by the wind as he floated there in midair. He could see that there was a child in that room, still awake for some reason. Jack blinked when Sandy sent in a golden tendril of dreamsand. The tendril had to take a detour through the chimney since the window wasn't open, but Jack saw the tendril sneak under the crack in the door and fly to the child. The child had stared at the sand in amazement for all of one second before he was knocked out by the dreamsand.
A golden dream played over the child's head and the child smiled in his sleep. Jack watched all this with wide eyes and stared at the golden images playing over the child's head. The child was dreaming of playing with other children, from the looks of the golden images playing over the child's head.
"You give dreams to children," Jack said as it came to him. "Good dreams?"
Sandy nodded enthusiastically and reached out to pat Jack's shoulder, but paused when Jack suddenly flinched away from the touch. Jack was unused to such things since he had never been touched by another spirit before.
Sandy let his hand drop down as he looked at Jack consideringly. Jack looked so young to be a spirit! And judging from Jack's clothes, he hadn't been a spirit for very long. What Jack was wearing still seemed to match the current dress for the most part.
A golden image of a house followed by a golden question mark appeared over Sandy's head.
"My.. my home?" Jack guessed, making sure to not float so closely to Sandy.
Sandy nodded at that and Jack nervously ran a hand through his hair.
"I do not have a house," Jack explained. "I have a lake that calls to me, and I like to stay there sometimes."
He stopped suddenly, as if suddenly uncertain about revealing so much of himself to this strange person. Sandy was the first person he had met that didn't yell at him. He didn't understand why Sandy wasn't shouting yet. But he hadn't heard Sandy make a single sound, and that made Jack wonder if the golden little man could even talk. It seemed rude to ask, however, so Jack didn't.
Sandy looked a little sad when he heard that Jack had no home. Didn't all the Seasonals have their own place they stayed at? Sandy had guessed that Jack was the new Winter Seasonal he had heard whispers and rumors about over the years. The consensus at first had been that this new Seasonal was just like Mistral, the former Spirit of Winter, but Sandy had yet to encounter any of the harsh Winters that Mistral had made, and that made Sandy wonder if the others weren't judging this new Seasonal too harshly.
Jack fidgeted and then the urge to flee overtook him. It was nice talking to someone that could see him, but at the same time, it was so unnerving that he was feeling a little overwhelmed by it all.
"It was nice to meet you," Jack said, as he started to float up a bit with help from the Wind. "But I must spread Winter elsewhere now."
Sandy belatedly held out a hand as if to call out to Jack to wait, but Jack had already flown off. Sandy watched Jack's retreating form and a determined look crossed Sandy's face. He would make certain that at least there would be one person who would be nice to this new spirit. His shoulders slumped, however, when he realized he hadn't even gotten this new spirit's name.
Over the next few years, Sandy had met Jack off and on in various countries around the world. Sandy always made a point of seeking Jack out if it was winter in that country and Jack had slowly grown accustomed to the golden man's attention.
Jack now no longer flinched if Sandy patted his arm in a friendly manner and Jack no longer fled after a few minutes of conversation. Sandy considered Jack's progress to be a good one and Sandy couldn't help but wonder what had happened in Jack's early life as a spirit to make him so uncomfortable with conversations in general.
Sandy smiled as Jack sat perched on the golden cloud that Sandy had expanded just for Jack. Jack was happily chatting away with all traces of shyness gone. It had been five years since the Sandman had met the Winter Spirit.
"You should have seen the look on his face!" Jack said with a chuckle. "I threw a snowball right at him and he was certain that it had been his sister, even though she was behind him and he had been hit in the front. He had been upset at first, but then I used my trick to help him have more fun."
Sandy cocked his head and a golden question mark appeared over his head.
"Oh, I have a power I discovered a few years ago," Jack said nonchalantly. "If I concentrate and blow on a snowball to perfect it, I can put some of my power into it. When it strikes a person, it makes them happy, no matter what their mood was before. I use it to help the children enjoy their games more."
Sandy gave Jack a big grin at that and Jack grinned right back at him. The Wind ruffled Jack's hair affectionately and Jack was happy to have two good friends. What more could he want?
Jack was soon distracted a moment later when he spotted the little hummingbird flying past him and into a house. The hummingbird was only a moment, but when Jack saw it leaving, he thought he saw it carrying a tooth.
Jack glanced at Sandy, the question already on the tip of his tongue.
"What was that?"
Author's Note: Sorry if you guys aren't interested in these Interludes right now, but I can't help what my muse gets distracted by. The next actual chapter will start off with August, since I haven't forgotten about him or Mother Nature. Then we will get everyone settled back at home and if the chapter isn't too long yet, I miiight give you a little plot thrown in. Otherwise, that plot will happen in the chapter after next. If you guys have any plot suggestions, now is the time to go ahead since after that things will be rolling along.
