2-Wet feathers

"Oi! Wake up!"

Something furry that smells sort of like chocolate is slamming against his cheek.

"Pull yerself together, frostbite!"

'Aussie-accented name calling? That's gotta be Cottontail' Jack's eyes flutter open and he meets the Easter Bunny himself, clapping his face with a furry paw, a worried frown on his face. Next to him, Sandy is quickly (Perhaps hysterically) signaling -while holding onto his staff, Jack notices thankful-. A slow, pondering look around reveals him that they're on board of North's Sleigh, but their Russian comrade doesn't seem to be driving quite as wildly as usual. Looking at him, Jack finds he seems to be missing something, besides his characteristic zest when on the reins. Is something wrong?

"…what's up?" he manages to whisper weakly, trying to sit up. His vision blurs drastically and he stumbles back, biting back a moan.

"Woooh, take it easy, mate" Bunnymund says, crouched in front of him. Next to him, Sandy produces some symbols he fails to catch and the bunny makes a small calming motion with his paw before asking in a completely business-like manner that Jack can't help but find amusing "Alright…now, how many long ears do ya see?"

"Kangaroos don't have long ears" Jack mutters with a small smirk. Sandy smiles with relief and produces an 'O' and a 'K' over his head while nodding and giving a thumbs-up to an unimpressed Bunnymund.

" 's that the thanks I get for holding yer lousy bum down so ya don't fly off the sleigh?" he mumbles, his whiskers twitching in annoyance.

"Couldn't help myself…sorry" Jack finds himself saying, probably because he's too tired to make fun of him. The Easter Bunny sighs, then running a paw between his long ears with a deep breath.

"Right. We should be the ones saying that, Frostbite" he makes a small pause and sits next to him. Jack can see the trails of the bunny's nails on the wooden sled's floor.

'So he's still afraid of this rackety…' Jack thinks amusedly.

"Sorry we didn't come to yer rescue" Bunnymund continues in a sincere fashion that's almost awkward to both him and Jack. Sandy nods, scratching his nape.

"Pfft, get serious, guys, that's OK-" Jack starts, his mind working at light speed, searching for a joke to break the moment.

"Nope. It ain't OK" Bunnymund declares gravely without giving him a chance, crossing his arms "We're supposed to be a team, to stick together through thick and thin, and yet it took us so freakin' long to realize what had happened to ya that, hadn't it been for Tooth, ya'd been- "

"TOOTH!" Jack bursts out before he can stop himself, looking around for her agile form. The memory of her…underwater mouth-to-mouth is vivid in his mind and he is at once both really anxious to talk to her and very embarrassed to do so. However, she is nowhere to be seen and this is very unsettling "… where is she?"

Bunnymund and Sandy share a brief glance, before latter nods once and then produces an arrow over his head that points somewhere between Jack's feet.

Jack moves, granted, rather clumsily , though aided by the bunny, to kneel and take a look at an usually concealed spot under the seat, presumably, one of the places where North keeps the cookies and milk for the road, and finds Toothiana curled up in the small, dark space, her eyes closed. Her shivering, small form is wrapped in something huge and hairy and red and he realizes that's what North had been missing. His coat.

"Tooth!" Jack calls breathlessly. The Fairy responds to his call by opening her eyes slowly "Tooth, are you OK?"

She gives him a sleepy smile, and closes her eyes again, without reply.

"What's wrong?" Jack asks, raising scared, wide eyes to Bunnymund and Sandy "Why is she like this?" both grimace slightly and share another glance, as if deciding whether to tell him or not.

"…let's just say…feathers, water and cold don't get along too well" Bunnymund finally says in an uncharacteristically limp tone, and a memory fleets in Jack's mind: Birds flying away from the winter because the cold would kill them otherwise. He'd helped a few of them over the years, holding back the icy nights so that they'd have time to put some more distance between them and the snow, but sometimes even his efforts weren't enough and he'd find them, contorted over the snow.

Tooth had dived for him inside a frosty lake and she looked like she was, at least, half-bird.

"Is she gonna be OK?" Jack asks urgently, his voice cracking at the end of the sentence.

"Sure…sure, frosty, no sweat" Bunnymund assures, this time more convinced "North has this sauna-thing at his place, she can warm up and dry herself up in there"

"You sure-?!" before he can finish, the sled touches ground and sends him flying right onto a passerby Yeti that's feeling kind enough to stop his fall. The impact, even when softened by the huge furry creature, still is enough to knock him out.

This time, when Jack opens his eyes, the heavily ornamented ceiling of North's bedroom greets him. North's bed, huge enough for ten guys his size, is also uncomfortably warm, as it is covered with what seem to be bear pelts, and though he hadn't been covered with them, they still gave off more warmth than he'd ever be comfortable with. He sits up and stretches, reckoning the damage done to his body; most of his extremities are sore and, well, he's not gonna be riding the wind back to Burgess in at least a day or two, but he's pretty much woundless. His eyes wonder through the bed and catch on his staff, comfortably laid down not far from his legs. He reaches for it, the sole contact of the cold wood against his palm like a part of his own body. He takes a full breath, content.

'Fearlings: 0 Guardians: 312745...and 1' he thinks sleepily, falling back into the pillows. However, another idea rises him from the bed in a zoom 'Tooth! How long was I out? Is she…?'

Jack all but flies out of the room, lands on swift feet and starts running down the palace-like halls.

Yeti's recognize him on sight, and he can tell some of them have to remind themselves that he's a guest this time to hold themselves back from breaking his spine as he sweeps next to them, frosting everything with his inner turmoil. The elves, much lighter than a Yeti, end up flying around, covered in icy designs, laughing maniacally; he'd be amused if he weren't so worried. At the sight of Phil, the only Yeti who's grows he can mildly understand, he asks for the location of the 'Sauna-thingie' Bunnymund had mentioned earlier. Phil, though curious, asks nothing but merely points the right direction and Jack leaves like a breath, thanking hurriedly. He finds it soon enough, and opens the door in a huff, calling for Tooth.

The room, painted in rich reds and golds, it's empty.

A frustrated groan leaves his lips as he crouches, frowning.

Alone again.

Where's everybody? Why had no one woken him up? Has Tooth really gotten better? A paranoid thought makes its way into his mind, crippling him momentarily. What if Tooth had been in more danger than Bunny and Sandy had wanted to reveal? What if they'd only said (Or Bunnymund had, at least) that thing about the sauna just to stop him from worrying? What if things had taken a turn for the worst and now the rest of the Guardians just couldn't bear to look at him? What if Tooth was…?

The moment she'd breathed into him, her lips on his, and her face when he opened his eyes above the ice appear in his memory, and then dead birds, contorted and cold, do too. This time he closes his eyes tight shut to stop tears from escaping them. He drops on his knees and bends forward, resting his weight on his staff, taking deep breaths, a pain only comparable to that of Pitch breaking his staff filling him. The floor around him is already white with frost.

"Bozhe Moy! Jack? What are you doing?" comes North booming voice from behind him, making him start and turn to him. The Guardian of wonder is looking at him, eyebrows raised, hands on his hips. Jack almost lets out a relieved laugh, so he's not alone! However, as he gets to his feet to go to him, his face shows only worry.

"Where's Tooth?" he asks North.

"Tooth?" North repeats, before running a hand over his own scalp bashfully "…hidden, if she knows best for her…I…I'm afraid Bunny, Sandy and I might have...you know, smothering her with attentions since she came out of the sauna this morning"

"So-so you mean she's OK?!" Jack hurries him.

"Da, da, my dear boy. She just fine" North replies soothingly, with a somewhat knowing smile. The thought that he knows about Tooth…mouth-to-mouthing him crosses Jack's mind for a second and he's suddenly very uneasy, but North continues, his tone grave "She did give us quite fright, though. I believe we all thought she was dying on us yesterday…" seeing Jack's horrified expression, he quickly adds "Oh, no, no, Jack, she was never really-! You know…she's Tooth. She's our lady; she could have gotten paper-cut and we would still have been fretting over her"

"It was my fault she had to endanger herself in the first place" Jack says with a scowl.

"No, Jack" North says, laying a huge hand on his shoulder in a supportive manner as he bends closer to him to speak face-to-face "You were inside water, element to which you probably not used at all, because, well, it usually freezes. You were also knocked out by fearling, you were helpless. I'm sure Bunny told you this already, but rest of us hadn't noticed anything was wrong, only one who did was Tooth, so she act on it. You needn't blame yourself for it" North sighs "This is exactly why we're reluctant to tell you what wetting her feathers does. None of us want you to blame yourself anymore, Jack. We don't like seeing you beat yourself up for every little mistake" Jack averts his eyes, so he continues "Tooth knew water is dangerous to her, but she still chose taking that risk. Have you thought why she would do that?"

Jack didn't reply. He hadn't thought of it, to tell the truth. What had Bunny said about it, though? 'Teams are supposed to stick together through thick and thin', which could be translated as 'She did what any of us would have done, had we noticed you were in trouble'

He thought about Tooth's lips on his own and barely held back a grimace. He sure was thankful Tooth had been the one instead of the others. But there's something that didn't quite fit with that idea. He isn't sure what, though.

"Anyway" North says, crossing his arms behind him with a business-like demeanor "If you really want to know, there is place I overheard Tooth say she was going, the last time I saw her…"

C.C (AKA) the author here. One chapter to go, yay. I'm throwing Jack and Tooth's relation with the other guardians because, come on, as much as I like his relationship with one another, their world doesn't revolve around them. And though I enjoy focusing on the couple's interactions alone as much as the next person, I enjoy couples much more when placed in context...yyyeah, this is what theatre does to you. Anyway, North speaks weird here because…well, doesn't he speak weird in the movie? (I wouldn't know, I watched it in Spanish) and in most fanfics I've read, he does *shrug* Thoughts? Comments?