15 pages? La gasp! :0 It's been so LONGGGGG since I've done a chapter that was more the 7-8 pages and I admit it feels good to be back! :D So I know Christmas is coming up in a few days so I decided to update (again!) for you guys! :3 I might try to sneak in another before Christmas, so look out for that. ;) If not I will try with all my fanfic writer power to make sure it's up before New Years! :D So Enjoy this long Chapter 28!
Sandy saw the other Guardians crescent faces and waved a hand to get their attention. He smiled and did a little twirl, giving them thumbs up as if to say 'I'm fine now, don't worry.'
They smiled back, even if they still felt horrible for not saving him in time.
North, Tooth and Bunny stood around an engraving of Sandy on the ground in the main room of the Pole. North's yetis and elves were gathered behind them. There was a heavy, seldom air around the group, sadness and grief clouding their eyes.
The elves started bobbing their heads, the bells on their hats tinkling a mournful song.
Jack sat off to the side, as if to keep him self separate from the despairing group. His hood rested on his head and he stared silently out the window next to him. He raised his pinky and pressed it to the glass, a frosted shape of Sandy appeared slowly.
North walked up, looking at the quiet winter spirit. "Are you all right?"
"I just…' Jack trailed off for a moment. 'I wish I could have done something."
"Done something?' North asks questioningly. 'Jack you stood up to Pitch. You saved us."
Jack didn't look convinced. "But Sandy-"
"Would be proud of what you did." North says with certainty.
Sandy floated over to Jack, who was about to speak but only gasped in surprise when the golden man hugged him.
Jack froze (Pun intended) for a moment before he relaxed and hugged him back. After a few moments Sandy pulled away and smiled softly at Jack. The winter spirit got the unspoken message and nodded.
The others didn't speak, knowing Jack needed this reassurance.
Jack looked at North for a moment before taking off his hood and started walking away.
North spoke up, causing the boy to stop. "I don't know who you were in your past life. But in this life you are Guardian."
As North set a hand on Jack's shoulder he looked down, trying to put his thoughts into words. "But how can I know who I am if I don't know who I was?"
"You will. I feel it.' North chuckles softly, rubbing is stomach. 'In my belly."
That got a small grin from the boy, which was what he had wanted.
North and Jack walked into the globe room to see Tooth and Bunny staring worried at the globe.
"Look how fast they're going out." Tooth says nervously.
"It's fear.' Jack says, floating up to look more closely at the globe. 'He's tipped the balance."
"Hey buck up you sad sacks.' Bunny says encouragingly. 'We can still turn this around!"
He hopped onto the controls so he could stand in front of the others. "Easter is tomorrow. And I need your help. I say we pull out all the stops and we get those little lights flickering again.
The remaining Guardians gathered their stuff and started making their way though the Workshop.
"Bunny's right!' North says with determination. 'As much as it pains me to say, old friend. This time, Easter is more important than Christmas."
"Hey did everyone hear that?" Bunny says excitedly, looking to Tooth and Jack who wore amused grins.
"We must hurry to the warren. Everyone! To the sleigh!" North orders.
"Oh, no mate. My warren, my rules. Buckle up.' Bunny grinned smugly as he tapped his foot on the ground and the Guardians along with a few yetis and elves fell into the hole.
Bunny and Jack laughed as they easily skated though the tunnel. North and Tooth were screaming as they slide on their backs, spinning every time they hit a turn.
When they reached the end Tooth floated dizzily into the air Jack and Bunny landed smoothly. North and his helpers land in a pile on the ground.
"'Buckle up.' Is very funny." North chuckles as he sits up.
Two egg goblins walked up behind Bunny to look at the new guests. "Welcome to the Warren."
Bunny tensed suddenly, whipping around his ears perked as he listened intensely. "Something's up."
A small herd of his eggs came running from one of the tunnels. He and the other Guardians got into battle stances, ready for whatever may come out.
They could hear screaming, but the echoing made it hard to place what was making the sound. With a battle cry the group raced forward to face the enemy….
Until little Sophie came running out, making them screech to a stop.
Sandy was silently laughing his head off. The other four blushed in pure embarrassment, making the dream weaver laugh even harder.
"Well you can not blame us Sandy.' North tries to reason. 'We had not known the girl had gotten into the Warren! We though it might be Pitch."
Sandy just shrugged, eyes gleaming with amusement as if to say 'Say what you want, it's still funny'.
"Sophie?" Jack says in surprise.
The group quickly hid their weapons, both to not scare the girl and out of embarrassment, but she just chased after one of the elves.
" Elf elf elf!" She giggles as the poor thing ran from her.
"What is she doing here?!" Bunny asks in shock, looking at North.
North patted around his coat before replying back sheepishly. "Snow globe."
"Crikey! Somebody do something!" Bunny says in exasperation.
Jack stepped back, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Don't look at me I'm invisible, remember?"
"Elf elf.' Sophie continues to chant now dragging said elf by it's hat.
"Don't worry Bunny!' Tooth says happily. She flew around Sophie to catch her attention. 'I bet she's a fairy fan! It's ok little one."
"Pretty." Sophie gasps.
"Oh! You know what? I've got something for you!' Tooth coos as she holds out a hand full of teeth. 'Here it is! Look at all the pretty teeth with little blood and gum on them!"
Sophie stared at her in horror for a moment before screaming as she ran away.
"Yea, sheria.' Bunny says smartly. 'Not the brightest idea."
Tooth huffed and slapped his arm. The other three males agreed with Bunny but didn't say it out loud.
Jack chuckles. "Blood and gums? When was the last time you guys actually hung out with kids?"
He floated to the top of a rock and sat there while Sophie chased the eggs underneath.
"Peak-A-Boo!" She shouts, making the eggs scramble away.
"We are very busy bringing joy to children, we do not have time…' North froze for a moment when he realized what he was going to say and ended lamely. 'Children."
"If one little kid can ruin Easter,' Jack says swirling a snowflake around his fingers. 'then we're in worse shape then I thought."
He flicked the snowflake away where it floated to Bunny, landing on his nose. A small shower of lights glowed before Bunny's eyes and a wide smile broke out on his face.
Eggs started herding in from everywhere.
"Rimsky-Korsakovl." North mutters, impressed as he puts his fists on his hips. "That's a lot of eggs."
"Uh how much time do we have?" Jack asks half joking half serious.
They started painting some while others would fall into the rainbow river and would come out multicolored.
After some time Jack came to land by Bunny and Sophie, who was holding a small egg in her hands.
As Sophie crawls into Bunny's arm Jack turns to him and smiles. "Not bad."
"Not bad yourself." Bunny says back.
"Look I'm sorry for the whole…you know, kangaroo thing." Jack speaks up after a moment of silence.
"It's the accent, isn't it?" Bunny smirks.
Jack chuckles.
Tooth and North came up and joined the group.
"Oh, poor little ankle-biter. Look at her. All tuckered out." Bunny mutters, looking at Sophie with warmth.
"I love her." Tooth says, staring at the girl adoringly. "I think it's time to get her home."
"How about I take her home?" Jack offers.
"Jack, no. Pitch is-' Tooth tries to argue.
"No match for this." Jack cuts in, holding up his staff.
"Which is why we need you here, with us." Bunny steps in.
"Trust me.' Jack smiles reassuringly. 'I'll be quick as a bunny."
Tooth, Bunny and North stood a bit straighter. Now they would see what really happened after Jack left. They knew they had been harsh and rash to accuse Jack before and they wanted to know the real story so they could apologize.
Sandy noticed how the others acted and was even more curious about what happens next.
Jack flew into Sophie's room and tried to lay her down but even in her sleep she had a vice grip around his neck. He grabbed her hands and pulled them apart, finally getting free. Just as he turned around Sophie, who had been too close to the end, fell off with a small thud.
Jack and Baby Tooth, who had followed him, flinched. Wincing when they heard Sophie and Jamie's mom.
"Sophie is that you?" She says.
Jack quickly threw a blanket over Sophie, who was still fast asleep, and a small stuffed animal next to her and slipped out the window.
The Guardians chuckled at Jack's fail. He blushed a light blue, almost pouting as he folded his arms. "As if you guys wouldn't have done the same."
They just shared bemused looks before returning to the memory.
"We should get back." Jack says with a nervous grin, shutting the window quietly.
"Jack!"
Jack twisted around at the sound of a young girl's voice. "That voice. I know that voice."
"Jack!"
Jack turned and took off after the sound.
Tooth had a look of concentration on her face. Why was Jack hearing Sarah? That only happened when-
"Oh no!" She gasps, hands flying to her mouth as tears filled her eyes.
"What is it Toothy?" North asks worriedly.
"The teeth!' Tooth exclaims. 'One of the parts of helping you remember is hearing the voice of one of the people you loved. As soon as you hear the voice it draws you in and is almost impossible to ignore!"
She turns to Jack, now understanding why he had been gone. "Oh Jack I'm so sorry."
Bunny and North's comprehension lit their eyes as they too looked at Jack with regret.
Sandy looked at them in confusion but decided to not ask, yet.
He landed on an air vent, looking around in hopes of seeing where the voice was coming from.
"Jack!"
He turned again and shot towards the voice, which seemed to be coming from the forest.
He landed on the ground and ran on foot, following as the voice got closer and closer.
"Jack!"
He stopped in a small clearing. A broken and old looking bed rested almost menacingly in the middle. What looked like a deep hole sat under it, just looking at it made him uneasy.
Baby Tooth chirped urgently at him but he waved her off, eyes focused on the bed. "Don't worry there's still time."
He walked up to it, looking down showed that the hole was really deep. Lifting his staff Jack started breaking off the pieces of the bed that covered the hole.
"Jack?" The voice calls again, this time questioningly.
With a small breath he hopped down.
He walked through a small tunnel, the light dimming as he left it behind.
"Baby Tooth, come on!' He whispers, waving her off as she tried to pull him back. "I have to find out what that is."
They came to a large lair. There were gothic cages hanging from the roof and stairway that lead everywhere, twisting in odd ways and making the place look like a haunted maze.
He flew up to one of the cages when he heard lots of chirping and saw all of Tooth's fairies trapped.
"That dirty shadow sneaking jerk!' Tooth screeches. 'How dare he put my babies in cages! I should have knocked all his teeth out!"
"Shh! Keep it down.' Jack says urgently. Hopping from cage to cage he quieted the fairies. 'I'll get you guys out as soon as I-"
"Jack?"
Jack looked down at the tooth canisters, eyes widening.
"Jack!"
"Can…" He finished dazedly. He drops from the cages into the piles, not caring that they made loud clanking sounds as he pushed them around.
He looked at them as quickly as he could, not noticing the shadow growing behind him.
"Looking for something, Jack?" Pitch's voice echoes around the room.
Jack picked up his staff and shot the Pitch shaped shadow, but it quickly disappeared.
He chases after it as Pitch laughs.
"Don't be afraid, Jack. I'm not going to hurt you."
Jack noticed the real Pitch on a bridge and jumped to land near him.
"Afraid? I'm not afraid of you." Jack says stiffly.
"Maybe not.' Pitch agrees, not even bothering to turn and face Jack. He looked at Jack over his shoulder, eyeing him curiously. 'But you are afraid of something."
"You think so, huh?"
"I know so.' Pitch says with certainty. 'It's the one thing I always know. People's greatest fears."
He turned to Jack, smiling slightly. "Yours is that no one will ever believe in you."
Jack looked shocked, and gasped as he fell through a shadow. Tumbling around till he landed.
"And worst of all, you're afraid you'll never know why.' Pitch laughs.
Jack grabbed around for his staff, hardly seeing anything in the darkness.
"Why you?" Jack ran though a door way but ended up slamming into a wall. He spun around to find Pitch right in front of him.
"Well fear not.' Pitch says, holding out a gold tooth container with the face of a brown haired brown eyed boy. 'For the answer to that is right here."
Jack stared at the box before looking back at Pitch, shocked.
"Do you want them, Jack?' Pitch asks softly. 'Your memories?"
Jack slowly started to reach out for them, but pulled back slightly hesitant.
Pitch laughs as he disappears, Jack followed his shadow the best he could.
"Everything you wanted to know in this little box." Pitch says, his shadow appearing from Jack's before disappearing again.
"Why did you end up this way? Unseen.' Jack spun around desperately trying to find where Pitch was hiding. 'Unable to reach out to anyone. You want the answer so badly. You want to grab them and fly off with them.' Pitch's shadows multiplied, circling Jack. ' But you're afraid of what the Guardians will think."
The Big Four where shocked. Jack wanted to run but stayed because of them? They looked at Jack but his eyes were focused on the memory, obviously avoiding their stares.
"You're afraid of disappointing them. Well let me ease your mind about one thing.' Pitch say darkly. 'They'll never accept you. Not really."
"Stop it! Stop it!" Jack screams, clutching his ears as off to block Pitch out.
They were shocked again. They had never seen Jack, at least in his spirit years, act like that. Bunny stepped forward and placed a paw on Jack shoulder.
"Don't listen to that rat bag, Jack. We accept ya full heartedly." He says encouragingly.
Jack smiled, his shoulders relaxing. "Thanks Bunny."
"After all you're not one of them." Pitch says as he appears in front of Jack.
"You don't know what I am." Jack seethes as he points his staff threateningly at him.
"Of course I do!' Pitch smirks. 'You're Jack Frost. You make a mess where ever you go. Why you're doing it right now."
Pitch tossed the tooth container at Jack, who barely caught it. He looked at it confused, before he stared at Pitch worriedly. "What did you do?"
"More to the point, Jack.' Pitch grins evilly. 'What did you do?"
He laughs as he disappears back into the shadows. Jack's staff glows as he gives a battle cry. He chases Pitch into the shadows before he gets spit back into the light.
He turns around but a wall of stone blocks his way, suddenly realizing he had forgotten someone. "Baby Tooth!"
"Happy Easter, Jack." Pitch's sinister voice echoes around him.
He looked at the ground and notices several broken eggs on the ground. "No."
Three of the older Guardians looked down in shame. Now that they had seen what had happened they couldn't believe how they had treated Jack. How could they have believed Jack had joined Pitch? Had they really had so little faith in him?
Sandy was shocked by what had happened but he had a feeling that the surprises weren't over yet.
Jack had forgiven them a while back and by the looks on the other's faces he knew they had truly meant their apologizes. He sent them a smile, letting them know he held no grudges, and they sent relieved ones back.
When Jack found the others he saw a boy pass through Bunny and a little girl say Bunny wasn't real. He winced, understanding Bunny's pain, and flew into view.
"Jack, where we you?' North asks, walking up to the winter spirit. 'The nightmares attacked the tunnels. They smashed every egg, crushed every basket. Nothing made it to the surface."
"Jack." Tooth calls as she flies up, she noticed the tooth container in his hand and gasped. "Where did you get that?"
"I was…It's…' Jack tried to think of how to explain what had happen but Tooth cut him off.
"Where's Baby Tooth?" She asks frantically, looking for said fairy.
Thinking the worst Tooth looks at him sadly. "Oh Jack. What have you done?"
"That is why you weren't here?' North says, anger making his voice raise. 'You were with Pitch?"
"No listen, listen." Jack sighs trying to figure out how to tell them. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"He has to go." Bunny says flatly.
"What?" Jack asks, shocked.
"We should NEVER have trusted you!" Bunny shouts, raising his fist as if to punch Jack.
Jack stumbled back, staring at Bunny wide eyed.
Bunny's anger left and was replaced with sadness. "Easter is new beginnings. New life. Easter's about hope….And now it's gone."
He walked away, ears folded back.
Jack turned to North and Tooth, hoping they might hear him out but they only turned away. He pulled the Russian baby doll out of his pocket, he stared at it before letting fall to the ground. He jumped into the air and flew as far away as he could, not looking back.
The Guardians looked up when they heard a snap of whips. They turned around to see Sandy frowning harshly, whips in hand and dream sand floating threateningly around him.
Sandy was pissed.
Hehehe don't know why making Sandy pissed is so amusing to me. :3 Review to tell me if you want the little golden guy to beat up the the Guardians or not, there are some odd 400 of you out there so I want answers! XD Hope you liked! R&R plz! Ta.
GWDG