Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Winter Child!" =D This is another chapter that I had a lot of fun writing (there's a bit of action in it compared to previous chapters too, hehe). Other than that, I don't have anything else to say. XD I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! =D

~ XXVIII ~

Sweet Dreams We Bestow

In a blimp floating across the sky

Dreamsand swirled out through the nigh

Dolphins

Fairies

Golden shores

Castles made of sand

Mermaids and more

Those golden fantasies

Blessed the children who slept

And were bestowed by none other

Then the Sandman and Jack

...

"Woooo-hoo! I get to stay up late!"

Bouncing on the couch like a monkey on high, Jack laughed, Wawa clutched in hand. It was nine at night, but the winter child was still dressed in his buttoned shirt and suspenders. Normally, Jack would've been in bed by now. But tonight was special. Very special. Why? Because tonight, Jack would be accompanying Sandy as he delivered his dreamsand across Lunslruna!

Jack had never been outside of Santoff Claussen, and even though he'd be staying in the blimp that Sandy used to cover such long distances, he was beyond ecstatic that he got to watch him work.

North had requested that Sandy take Jack with him on one of his dreamsand runs so Jack could learn more about his job. At school, the children were learning about careers, and Ombric wanted them to discover what they wanted to be when they were older. Jack didn't know what he wanted to do, so North suggested that each of the Guardians could show them what they did for a living, so he could find inspiration through one of their works. Jack liked the idea, as he found the Guardians' jobs particularly interesting, but didn't know exactly why they enjoyed them so much. He was looking forward to learning more about them, and this only excited him even further.

"Settle down, mate. Jump and higher and yer goin' ta hit the ceiling," Aster said, his emerald eyes following Jack up and down as he bounced on the cushions.

The winter child stopped and climbed off the couch. "Sorry!" he said, bouncing on his heels "I'm just excited!"

"I don't blame him," said Toothiana, smiling. "This is Jack's first time outside of the village. And not only that, he gets a personal look into how Sandy works."

"Remember, moy mal'chik. You cannot fall asleep on the ride," said North. "You will miss out on important information, and Sandy may have to bring you back."

Jack huffed determinedly. "I won't fall asleep! Promise!"

"He'll be fine," said Aster. "I gave 'im a bit of chocolate earlier. The sugar should keep him awake long enough."

Being obsessed with dental hygiene, Tooth glared at Aster. Jack's teeth were the whitest she had ever seen, and she always encouraged him to keep them healthy. Jack did a good job brushing, but he was still six. So confections like candy and sugar were items he couldn't resist.

The Sister of Fligt's glare made the Pooka feel guilty. "What? He's too young for coffee!" he stated. "He needs something ta keep him up!"

"Well, now he's buzzing around the house with the energy of a baby hummingbird," Tooth said, watching as Jack ran away from North, pretending he was a starship. The ex-Cossack chased after him, trying to get his coat and gloves on.

Aster and Tooth had just completed their work for the day and had come to see Jack off. They would stay with North until Jack and Sandy returned; they only planned to be gone for a few hours or so.

Though she wasn't happy that Aster had fed him chocolate, Tooth was excited for Jack. The little boy was always open to learning new things, and the Tooth Fairy couldn't wait for it to be her turn so she could tell Jack more about what she did.

Sandy was looking forward to this too; he had never taken anyone with him on his rounds. He had his dreamsand to keep him company, but it was nice to know that he'd have someone who he didn't have to construct out of his sand joining him. And Jack was quite the company.

North finally managed to catch Jack, and he helped him put on his coat and gloves. At the sight of the blue mittens Jack whined.

"But Nooooooorth…I don't need gloves!" the winter child complained. "They're too stuffy!"

"It gets very cold up in the air, Jack," said North, securing the gloves onto his little hands. "It is best to wear gloves."

Jack huffed. Although he was a snow sprite, Jack was still young. His immunity to the cold was limited, and wouldn't strengthen until he grew older. North didn't want to take any chances, and, knowing that he'd lose the argument, Jack reluctantly left the mittens on. North placed his white fur hat on the boy's head to complete the outfit.

Once he was bundled, Sandy asked—through his dreamsand—if Jack was ready to go. The winter child nodded and carried Wawa with him as the two headed toward the door. Aster, North, and Tooth watched them go.

"Have fun, you two!" Tooth called happily.

"Be good for Sandy, Jack!" North said.

"Don't fall off the blimp!" Aster hollered. This earned him an elbow from Tooth.

Jack giggled. "I won't!" he called back. Then, he followed Sandy out the door.

…

Jack had expected the blimp to be waiting for them outside, but it turned out, they had to take a dreamsand elevator to where it was docked in the sky. The sky! Jack tried not to focus too much over the edge of the dream cloud, but Sandy held his hand, ensuring that he wouldn't accidentally tumble off. Once they reached the side of the blimp, Sandy let Jack step in first.

Jack looked around, his eyes wide with awe as he admired the design. Four golden wires attached the gondola to the large, dreamsand crafted balloon that sparkled above them, and large fins protruded at the end of it. Various swirls and star-like ornate designs rimmed the edges of the schooner. Two rows of seats sat in the middle, and in the front, the control panel stood. Sandy was twisting knobs and touching buttons, all of them bright and glowing. Jack's fingers twitched, he would've loved to touch them, but North didn't want him getting into any mischief, so he restrained himself.

The entire flying device ran on dreamsand, and though the substance is known for making one sleepy, Sandy's blimp was actually very fast. It could probably compete against North's sleigh if it were a land vehicle (or if North's sleigh was a flying vehicle).

Sandy helped Jack buckle into a nearby seat, and he pressed one last button, and the two were off. Jack noticed that Sandy hadn't delivered any of his dreamsand to Santoff Claussen. "Aren't we going to send some dreams down here first?"

"I like to leave my favorite village for last," Sandy said, various images flashing above his head. Jack hummed and leaned back, enjoying the ride as they glided across the star-dotted sky. The winter child gained the courage to look over the side of the blimp; he was awed by how calm the night air was. The Wind brushed against his cheeks like a mother's gentle touch. Jack giggled; the Wind followed him everywhere, but he didn't mind. The Wind was his friend. The pale moon pulsed in the sky, its light beams guiding the golden blimp as it sailed through the sea of clouds.

"How long do you usually stay out here?" asked Jack.

"I stay out here quite late," replied Sandy, guiding the large blimp through the clouds. "I normally return by the break of dawn. I feel tired afterward, but I still do enjoy my job. Night is a very peaceful time of day."

Sandy stopped the blimp and stepped away from the control panel. He waved his hands, fashioning a cloud of dreamsand for him and Jack to step on. The winter child clutched his stuffed animal and sat down beside Sandy. The Sandman guided the cloud to the village below, then turned to Jack and smiled. With an elegant flourish, Sandy unleashed his streams of dreamsand. Jack gasped as the silk threads burst forth from Sandy's fingers, lacing and curling through the air like starry mist. They weaved through buildings, and went through windows, wrapping themselves over the heads of sleeping children; their minds waiting to be filled with fantastical dreams.

The gold sparkled like stardust and glittered like the ocean. Jack reached out and touched a nearby steam. Dolphins leaped out from the golden grains. They chittered and swirled around Jack. The winter child giggled with delight.

North told Jack that when he was a baby, Sandy used to give him dreamsand since he didn't sleep well at night. He was also afraid of the dark, and with his uncanny ability to sense darkness, Jack could only feel the enveloping darkness in his room. Jack still feared the dark, and he continued to sleep with the golden egg-shaped night light that Aster had given him. It was dark now, but with Sandy's dreamsand, the town was alive with light.

Sandy steered the dreamsand cloud toward a nearby house and pointed at the window. Jack peeked inside, and he saw two children—one boy and one girl—with warm smiles on their faces. Dreamsand swirled over their heads. The girl dreamed of being a mermaid, and the boy dreamed of flying. The sight of their smiles made Jack smile too. He understood now why Sandy loved his job.

The process went on like this for the rest of the villages and towns across Lunslruna. The sight of the coiling dreamsand never grew old for Jack. He would've loved to explore the towns that they floated over, but he knew that Sandy was on a tight schedule. And North wouldn't want him wandering around in places that he didn't know.

Well, at least I get to see them from above, thought Jack. As they crossed into different, Jack felt the changes and the air and spotted the differences in landscape. The humidity and roofed jungles of Kalithrai, the warmth and rolling glades of Monrilethel. Norsurberian and Olsolustria were both decent in the cold and had even lands, when Jack and Sandy passed the borders that went into Windskald, Jack felt right in his element.

There weren't many villages located in Windskald due to the harsh weather. Most who lived out there were nomads, or simply were just looking for adventure. Jack knew that this was his birthplace, but he didn't know where his old village was. Jack looked around. It was snowing, and the Wind roamed freely. The land was covered with snow, and the cold nipped at the tips of Jack's ears and his cheeks. But he wasn't bothered or uncomfortable. This was his land. This was his domain.

And oh how he wished he knew more about it.

Jack didn't think much about where he came from. Although he was upset that North hadn't told him about his heritage sooner, he forgave him right away. North and the Guardians were the only family he had, and he didn't want to lose them. But sometimes, Jack wondered if his parents were still alive…or if they really left him to perish in the snow.

Jack felt tears spring in his eyes and he quickly wiped them away. No, he refused to believe so. He rebuked that very thought! His Mama and Papa must've loved him, hadn't they? Or so Jack hoped and prayed. The feeling of being alone as he had when he lay in the woods like that again scared him. Jack remembered the freezing cold and the occasional howls he'd hear in the distance, shivering from both the cold and fear, wondering if anyone would find him. He had been so lonely lying there in the snow. Jack didn't like being alone. And nor did he ever want to be again. The very thought of it made him shiver.

The winter child held Wawa up to his face. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle in the dark."You wouldn't leave me alone, would you, Wawa?" he asked softly.

"Of course, I wouldn't! Who would leave such a remarkable boy like you, Jack?"

Jack giggled. He didn't always talk for Wawa, but it made him feel less lonely.

"And I wouldn't leave you either," the Wind seemed to say as she swirled comfortingly around him. Jack smiled, leaning into the invisible entity's embrace.

Sandy listened to the young snow sprite's conversation with a smile on his face. Jack was a wonderful child, but he saw in his dreams the doubts that he had of his family. Sandy wished that he knew more, but it had been six years, and nothing of Jack's parents of any of the snow sprites had been found. For the nonce, it seemed as if Jack was the very last one. But he refused to believe so.

In his dreams, the Guardians had taken place of his family, but there were rare occurrences where Jack's dreams would contain a white-haired man and woman, both pale and with sprite ears, holding and caring for him kindly. Their faces were never clear, but Jack knew they were his parents. When these dreams ended, he would wake up, confused and forlorn.

Jack wanted to know who his biological parents were, though he never voiced it out loud. The young snow sprite knew that the chances were slim, for Windskald was a large country, and nothing had been found or uncovered from the snow sprites in decades. Sandy assumed that Jck never said anything since he didn't want to offend them, but Sandy understood his longing. And he wished he could help him more.

Suddenly, the blimp rattled and shook, pulling Sandy out of his thoughts. Jack stepped away from the edge and turned to the Sandman, a worried look on his face.

"W-What was that?" he asked.

The atmosphere had grown colder, but it wasn't winter's cold. It was a dark, foreboding frigidity that made Jack want to curl up and hide. The moon appeared to flash a warning, and Sandy looked over the side of the blimp. An exclamation point burst over his head as his golden eyes caught sifting movement from beneath the hull. The figures moved like inky clouds, and from above, they blotched out the bright stars that had been keeping Jack and Sandy company. From the distance, Sandy could hear the distant whinnies of horses approaching, the shifting of sand echoing below.

Sandy frowned. Fearlings! And they had brought Nightmares with them too. Sandy turned to Jack and pointed at his seat, and the winter child instantly received the message. He climbed into a nearby seat and buckled in tight. From Sandy's hands, dreamsand whips took form, and he began to snap away the oncoming creatures.

Now do not fret, for this wasn't the first time Sandy had been attacked by Pitch's minions. He had dealt with Fearlings and Nightmares before, though they hadn't appeared in a while. Sandy's dreamsand could counteract the nightmare sand that the Nightmares were made of, and not even a Fearling could resist the effects of his dreamsand. Those hit instantly plummeted to the ground like stones, dreaming of drinking the world's fear before smashing against the Earth, dissipating like vapor.

However, Sandy knew the Fearlings he struck down weren't completely gone. Fearlings were born from pure fear; they couldn't be defeated permanently, and they would always return if a source of fear was nearby.

Nightmares were a more recent creation. They could be destroyed by Sandy's dreamsand and converted back to their original form. Although in large numbers, they were to be feared. They came in many shapes and sizes, all in the form of a horse. They had the amber eyes of their precursors and were just as hungry for fear as they were.

.Nightmares and Fearlings were beings to fear, but Sandy was much more worried for young Jack, who had never witnessed an actual Fearling or Nightmare attack. In his seat, Jack gripped Wawa in fear. The Wind blasted the Fearlings and Nightmares that approached away from the winter child, but one sly Fearling managed to slink its way to Jack. It licked past his ear, whispering in a low, ancient voice that made Jack's blood run cold. He screamed, and the Fearling was ready to strike. Sandy snapped the shadowy beast away before it could lay its fingers on Jack.

Tears dripped down Jack's cheeks. "S-Sandy, I'm scared!" he cried.

"They will only go after you if you give into fear," said Sandy, dreamsand flashing over his head. "You need to be brave, and they'll leave you be!"

Jack wiped away his tears and nodded, a determined look resting on his face. Instead of cowering in his chair, he helped fight back against the oncoming Fearlings and Nightmares. He conjured snowballs from his hands, throwing them at the dark creatures as they approached. They hit every mark (with the Wind guiding them to their targets), and Jack smiled victoriously, laughing even as he managed to nail the Fearlings and Nightmares with his snow.

The Sandman and snow sprite fought on. Pitch's ilk was relentless, and they came again and again to attack the blimp though so many of their brethren had fallen. Jack clutched Wawa as he threw another snowball at a nearby Fearling. It screeched as the snow got into its eyes, and it began to fall down to earth. Blue sparkles blinded its vision. Jack leaned over the blimp and cheered.

"Take that!" he shouted down at the Fearling as it plummeted to Earth. His triumph was interrupted when the blimp gave a sudden lurch. A group of Nightmares had bashed into it on the other side, and Jack wobbled with a cry. Wawa slipped out of his hands and fell over the edge of the blimp, following the Fearling he had just hit down to earth.

"Wawa!" Jack cried, reaching out for the stuffed toy even though it was already gone. He turned to Sandy. "We have to go down and get her!"

But the blimp was being overwhelmed and time was running out. They needed to escape, or they'd be taken out of the sky. Sandy hurried pushed at the controls and forced the fly vehicle to full speed, breaking free of what was now a black mass of Fearlings and Nightmares.

Jack sat in his chair, tears silently streaming down his face as he and Sandy drifted away from the nightmares behind them.

…

The ride home was smooth, and the other Guardians were just where Sandy and Jack left them. When they entered the house, Aster, North, and Tooth immediately noticed the grains of nightmare sand they were covered in. Sandy explained what had happened with his dreamsand. Jack stayed silent at his side.

"Jack, are you alright?" North asked quickly, checking him for injuries. His boy had nearly gotten hurt in the middle of battle, and worry poked at North like the needles of a cactus.

"I…I…" Jack sniffed, and tears spilled down his cheeks. He let out a choked sob."I lost Wawa!"

Remorseful looks fell on each of the Guardian's faces. They knew how much the stuffed arctic fox meant to the boy. North had made Wawa specifically for him, and she had been his favorite toy since he was one. Jack carried her everywhere, and now she was lost somewhere in the deep snows of Windskald. Lost and alone.

North hugged Jack as he cried. "Oh, moy mal'chik…" he murmured. "I could make you a new toy if you'd like."

Jack shook his head. "No, I want Wawa!"

Suddenly, there was a sharp rapping at the door, which caught everyone's attention. North opened it, but there was no one there. Just a wall of light, drifting snowflakes. The Wind whistled, gearing North to look down. The ex-Cossack gasped.

There, on the doorstep, was none other than Wawa! Jack's blue eyes brightened. "Wawa!" he exclaimed, scooping up the white fox. She was in perfect condition too. Jack hugged her close and the Wind swirled around him. Jack grinned.

"Thanks, Wind!" he said. The breeze brushed Jack's cheeks and whistled happily. Then she flew out the door and took her leave.

"Well I'll be," remarked Aster. "Ya sure do got a friend in the Wind there, don't ya, mate?"

Jack nodded, and he rubbed his eyes with a yawn. North lifted him from the ground.

"It's been long night," he said. Jack leaned against him tiredly. "We can talk more about this tomorrow, da?"

Everyone agreed, and Aster, Tooth, and Sandy said their goodbyes and left the house. As they walked down the path, Tooth spoke up. "I feel bad that Jack had to see Fearlings and Nightmares up close like that. He's only six…"

"Hopefully the kit's able ta sleep tonight," said Aster.

"I'll make sure of it," Sandy reassured them, using an arrow pointing to himself to convey his message.

Shortly after returning home, Sandy could sense that Jack was asleep. He was easy to detect since he had some of the wildest and most vivid of dreams. Sandy knew that Jack was rather fearful during the attack, and he had nearly been attacked by a Fearling as well. So, to ensure that he slept soundly, he sent him an extra dose of dreamsand to ward off any nightmares.

The golden tendrils rolled through Sandy's window and skimmed through the village and broke through Jack's bedroom window. The winter child was on the verge of a nightmare. His face was scrunched and a whimper tore through his lips. Sandy's dreamsand swirled over his head, sprinkling golden grains of goodness over the little boy as he slept.

Jack smiled softly, hugging Wawa close to him as he rolled over. He dreamed not of Nightmares and Fearling, but of him, Sandy, Wawa, and the Wind sailing over the Tsardom of Lunslruna, surrounded by flakes of snow.

Author's Note: *Nods in satisfaction* Yup. I think I did a pretty good job with this one.

So...fearling attack! XD If you guys have been following along since the beginning of the story, you may have noticed a few hints about a certain Boogeyman's upcoming appearance...That Fearling attack wasn't just randomly thrown in. *Whispers* There's more goin' on beneath the surface, hehehehehehe...

Okay, I'm sounding really suspicious right now, but trust me! Jackie will be fine *Mumbles* At least for now.

...What? I didn't say anything-

Thank you guys so much for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter! =D

Until the next chapter!

~BeyondTheMoon1203