Jack turned over in his bed, covering his eyes with a pillow to block out the harsh light.
"Jack, wake up!" he heard a voice say. Thinking it was his sister, he pulled the pillow away from his face to greet her, but was met with the smiling face of a brightly colored woman.
"Aah!" Jack gasped, jumping up and pushing himself against the wall.
"Oh! Sorry, Jack! I didn't mean to scare you," Tooth said, flying back from him with her fairies fluttering around her. "But we're in the next town, and we have to help set up the tents and stuff! Come on!"
Jack rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up. There were lights on in the car, and the others were getting out of bed sleepily, except for Pitch and Emily.
"Where's Emily?" Jack asked after a long yawn.
"We thought we'd let her sleep in. It's not yet five in the morning," Tooth answered. She seemed to be the only one up and alert; Bunny was rubbing his eyes, North was stretching widely, and Sandy kept falling asleep as he floated, being woken up by Tooth's fairies poking him.
"Where's Pitch?" Jack asked. Tooth glanced anxiously at Bunny, who had turned his attention to them.
"Oh, he left about an hour ago, he's probably running around terrorizing innocent children . . . but anyway, Jack, I don't think you should concern yourself so much with him."
"Why not?"
"He's not exactly all there upstairs," Bunny joked.
"Jack, he's just a little . . . um . . . cranky," Tooth explained. "Just stay out of his way, and he'll stay out of yours, you know?"
Jack frowned in annoyance. He felt inexplicably drawn to Pitch, he was secretly looking forward to getting to know him better, but he was always gone, and now Tooth and Bunny were telling him to leave him alone.
Whatever, Jack thought to himself, I can't avoid him forever, he sleeps under my bed!
The noise of them getting ready woke Emily up ten minutes later, and she poked her head out of her room. "What's going on?" she asked sleepily.
"Nothing, Ems, we just got to get to work," Jack answered, dropping off of his bed and kneeling in front of her. "You can go back to sleep."
"But I want to watch you!" she complained. Tooth flew over to us then.
"It's pretty early, Emily, and you need your sleep! Go back to bed for a couple of hours, then you can have some cereal and watch TV. We'll be back around noon for lunch, and you can watch us after that!"
Emily pouted, but Bunny ruffled her hair affectionately as he passed her. "Besides, it's pretty boring stuff. Just setting up tents and booths and getting yelled at by Mr. Moon and his brother, the Ringmaster Solveig. Later, we can show you the animals, and we'll have to train Jack."
Emily looked like she wanted to protest again; the excitement of the circus still fresh on her mind, but she yawned and conceded with a nod, too sleepy to do anything else.
Jack got a change of clothes and went to the bathroom car (after North told him where it was; he might have to leave a note for Emily). After dressing, brushing his teeth, and washing his face, he felt much more awake, and went to join the others in the living car.
He couldn't help a small chuckle as he watched Bunny munching on carrots, Tooth feeding her little fairies, North and Sandy pouring unsavory amounts of syrup on their pancakes, and, most of all, Phil wearing a flowery apron in front of the stove.
Tooth noticed him first and flew over to him, steering him to his seat at the table. "Eat up! The manual labor starts at five thirty!"
Phil piled several pancakes on his plate and Sandy pushed the butter and syrup toward him.
The rest of breakfast was spent first with them asking Jack questions about himself, and then a detailed debate on what was a better breakfast food: carrots vs. pancakes. Sandy, North, and Jack were on the pancakes side against Tooth and Bunny.
"Nothing like a good, crisp carrot, nice and crunchy! Unlike that sticky mush!" Bunny argued.
"Don't be silly, you need all this delicious sweetness to give you energy for the day!" North exclaimed.
"What about your teeth!" Tooth huffed. "They'll rot and fall off by Christmas with your diet!"
Jack laughed until his sides hurt. Even though he had only known them for a few hours, he was really starting to feel like they were his family.
At five thirty, they left the train car, still laughing from the breakfast debate, and met up with the rest of the circus crew. There were twelve acrobats, twenty clowns, three elephants, two monkeys, six horses, a lion, a magician and his assistant, and about a hundred people that set up and ran the place.
Since he was new, Jack was put to work hanging cheap stuffed toys that served as prizes for some of the games. He kept getting distracted, though, watching his fellow freak show members using their abilities to set up the larger tents.
Bunnymund and Phil were both, evidently, quite a bit stronger than normal men, so they were burdened with the heavy lifting. Tooth and Sandy could both fly, and Sandy could send out whips made of golden sand to move light wooden poles and such. Jack also found out that North had a passion for making intricate toys, and used to give them away to children, until Mr. Moon and his brother decided they would use them as top prizes for the games. Only a few of them have been won, mostly by teenagers that grew frustrated with the rigged games and kept shoveling over cash until they won.
He was especially mesmerized watching the big top go up. A huge team of men stood around the large, flattened tent, each holding a rope. There was one long pole in the center, and as the men pulled back on the ropes in perfect sync, the tent rose up in front of the pink sunrise. Through the sheer fabric, Jack could just make out Tooth fluttering near the top, securing some tethers. The men around the outside fastened the ropes with large stakes and started hauling things inside the tent while Jack got back to work.
By the time Jack hung the last stuffed panda (that had a hole in it and was leaking stuffing) on the last booth, the sun was high in the sky, and his phone said it was 10 am. He wondered if Emily was awake, and if he should go check on her, but North tracked him down and put him to work helping to fix some wooden benches that had been damaged being packed on to the train.
"You'd think, with how nice the train is, we'd be able to get some better prizes for the games," Jack grumbled irritably as he obtained another of many splinters. North laughed jovially.
"Wait 'till you get paid," he said. "You'll see where the money goes. Besides, is nice living arrangements, yes?"
"Yeah, I guess so . . . I just thought the circus would be more about making kids happy than making money."
North laughed again, though this one had a bitter edge to it. "Not so, my friend. Not with Mr. Moon and Solveig in charge."
"How come, if their brothers, they have different last names?" Jack asked.
"Both are Solveig, which means 'sun', but Mr. Moon wanted to differentiate himself, so 'Mr. Moon' now."
"Couldn't come up with anything better than 'moon'?"
"He is good at making money, not much else." They both laughed at the joke and continued their work. North ended up fixing the benches pretty well, with Jack's small contribution of holding the wood in place and a rejected suggestion of duct tape.
They finished just before noon, and headed back to the train. It was fairly dark inside, and Jack had to let his eyes adjust to the change in lighting. Emily was at the table playing dolls with Tooth's fairies – well, Emily was playing with a doll, the fairies were their own dolls, sitting at the tiny table having a tea party with Emily's doll, Maisie. Tooth, Sandy, Bunny, and Phil were inside, too, and to Jacks surprise (and delight), Pitch was sitting in the darkest corner, probably the reason behind the darkness.
"Jack, come sit here!" Tooth said excitedly, pulling him to a seat in the living area. Emily joined them and they all sat around him. "We have something for you! Sort of a welcome present!"
Bunny placed a long, flattish box on the coffee table in front of him, and Jack pulled off the lid enthusiastically. Pulling aside the white tissue paper, he revealed a long . . . stick.
" . . . Um. . ." Jack said, not wanting to offend his new friends as he looked up at their expectant faces.
"I know it just looks like a stick," Bunny said, chuckling a little self-consciously, "but we thought you could use it in your act, as a staff, or whatever . . ."
Jack's face lit up then, and he looked back at his staff. It had a hook on one end, like a Sheppard's crook. "I love it!" he told them, reaching for it.
As soon as he touched it, frost erupted from his hand and covered most of the staff, and he felt a surge of energy, like the staff was recharging his battery. He lifted it out of the box and felt a cool breeze ruffle his hair. " . . . wow."
He looked up at his new friends. Tooth beamed at him and giggled, Sandy gave him a thumbs up, Bunny smirked proudly at him, North laughed jovially again, and Phil patted him roughly on the head with his huge hand. He looked at Pitch in the corner, who was giving him a soft smile, but looked away when they made eye contact.
"GROUP HUG!" North shouted suddenly, as he and Phil teamed up to wrap everyone in their arms. Tooth and Bunny laughed uncomfortably in the tight embrace, and Pitch scowled at North for dragging him into it.
"We're a real family, now," Emily said suddenly, and Jack beamed at her in agreement.
"Come on, North," Bunny grumbled after a moment, "I'm starving!"
Phil released them and hurried over to the kitchenette, grumbling something to Emily.
"I want a grilled cheese sandwich!" she answered him.
"Can you understand him?" Jack asked incredulously.
Emily shrugged. "I can figure it out." She smirked at them and went back to play with the fairies.
The others followed her, commenting cheerfully on her choice of lunch, but Jack stayed behind, noticing that Pitch had again receded to his corner. Jack sat on the couch next to his corner.
"So . . . do you like grilled cheese sandwiches?"
Pitch quirked an eyebrow at him. "I suppose they're tolerable. Of course, I don't eat much. I find nourishment through . . . other means."
That piqued Jack's interest. He leaned toward him eagerly. "What other means?"
Pitch gave him a wry smile. "Haven't they told you? I feed off of fear."
Jack chuckled, thinking he was joking, but Pitch continued to stare at him without a hint of humor. ". . . seriously?"
"Oh, yes. However, I also cause fear, if I so desire."
"You mean . . . you don't eat food at all?"
"Occasionally, I might indulge myself, but it is not necessary for my health."
"But how is that even possible? You get nourishment from an emotion! An emotion that you also cause? That's crazy!"
Pitch gave a long-suffering sigh. "I can see you have a lot to learn about the world you live in. After all, it is quite impossible for a young boy to freeze a pond over at his mere touch so he can go ice skating in the middle of summer."
" . . . Who told you about that?" Jack asked quietly, suddenly becoming self-conscious.
"Mr. Moon told me," Pitch answered simply.
"Good buddies, are you?"
Pitch's expression darkened considerably. "I wouldn't say that."
"Jack!" Tooth said, pulling his attention from Pitch. "Lunch is ready."
Jack smiled apologetically to Pitch and left to join the others at the table.
"So, Jack," North said, "what are you thinking of doing for the show?"
"Oh, uh, I don't know, I haven't really thought about it . . . what am I supposed to do?"
"Well, for the regular show, you just walk in and do something small," Bunny said thoughtfully. "Just conjure up a few snowballs for something. For the VIP show, we usually do a bigger performance, but not a whole lot bigger. It's sort of an advertizement, really, because every other on New Years Day, we do a huge major show."
"What do you mean?" Jack asked, intrigued.
"Well, we rent out this stadium," Tooth answered, "and Mr. Moon auctions a certain number of tickets, so it's very exclusive and very expensive. Then, we do a show that's a few hours long where we show off everything we've got. This year is a show year, so in December we'll have to start getting ready for that."
"Let's just go to the big top and you can show us what you want to do," Tooth suggested. They finished eating quickly and headed down there, though Pitch didn't follow them. In the tent, crew members were busy stringing up lights overhead. Jack was surprised to see Mr. Moon and Solveig talking quietly in the center. They seemed to agree on something, and Mr. Solveig stalked off, but Mr. Moon stayed to greet them.
"There you are! I was wondering when you were going to get here!" He said cheerfully.
"Mr. Moon!" Tooth said, obviously surprised to see him as well.
"What brings you here?" Bunny said slowly, trying to use a tone that didn't sound offensive.
"I thought I'd come help train our new recruit: Jack Frost!" he gestured grandly to Jack.
"Jack Frost?" Emily said, trying it out. "It's perfect!"
"You have fine taste, little one," Mr. Moon said to her, pleased to be agreed with. "You'd do well in show business."
Emily beamed at him, but her attention was soon pulled by the fairies starting a game of tag.
Mr. Moon gave Jack an appraising look. "That outfit . . . it's not really working, is it?"
Jack frowned at his pale blue t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and black sneakers. "I guess not . . ."
"No. There's a collection of costumes in the dressing tent. Come along, I'm sure we an find something for you to wear." They walked back through the curtain that everyone had come through during the show.
It opened to another tent, only slightly smaller than the big top, but not as high. One side of the room had a few people repairing their costumes, a few changing stalls, a long make-up counter, and a lot of mirrors. But most of the tent was filled with boxes of spare costumes. All of them busied themselves looking for a costume befitting a mischievous winter sprite. Jack rejected a sparkly top from Tooth, a fluffy tutu from Phil, and a loud garment from North that might have been a hat.
Jack found an old-fashioned blue shawl that he liked, and Bunny found some warm brown pants to go with it. With a wave of his hand, Jack embellished the clothes with frost patterns.
Lastly, Mr. Moon presented him with a pair of garish blue shoes with curled toes that had silver bells on the ends. Jack accepted the shoes reluctantly and was shoved into a changing stall.
The pants were a little too long, so he rolled them up above his ankle, and looked at the shoes he was given. After giving them a once-over, he decided he was perfectly justified in abandoning them.
He stepped outside to show the others his outfit. Tooth smiled adoringly at him, and Sandy gave him a thumbs-up, but Mr. Moon glared at his bare feet.
Jack started when he felt something tap his shoulder, and turned to see Pitch standing in the shadows, holding out his staff to him. He took it and looked at himself in the mirror.
"This is so right," Jack said satisfactorily. He felt a gust of wind swirl around him and push him to the main tent. He let the wind guide him, but when he entered the larger space, the wind lifted his entire body in the air.
"Woohoo!" He exclaimed. Emily looked up at him in awe. He swirled up into the air for a moment before losing control and falling back to the earth, where he started laughing ecstatically.
Okay wow sorry this took so long to update. Tons of stuff has been going on, my laptop broke twice, I've been planning a baby shower and helping with a wedding . . . it's been crazy. So, sorry the ending is a little lame. I was trying to do like the scene when he first becomes Jack Frost, but I didn't really know how to describe it. Bleh. Anyway review plz!