So it's going to be a game then, Sandman. You're on.
"Jack! Are you paying attention?" North cut into Jack's scheme. "We are discussing very important business."
"Not to be rude, but I doubt the color of the wrapping paper you use is really all that important."
"Not that…" North stood, flabbergasted, looking toward the other guardians for support. Sandy shrugged. Tooth suddenly found the feathers on her arms especially interesting.
Bunny was the only soul brave enough to speak up. "He does have a point, North." The target of the comment huffed in indignation. "The color of googies, I would understand. I mean, that's one of the reasons the little ankle biters like 'em so much. For Christmas though, they definitely care more for the present underneath the paper, if you ask me."
Bunny, agreeing with me? Jack glanced out the window, expecting to see a pig pass through the air.
"I was not asking, Aster. The color of wrapping paper means everything! Imagine sizzling pink covering gift! Sizzling!" Jack shuddered. Say sizzling one more time, North… Ugh, probably one of the worst words there are, along with heat, burning, sweltering, and tons of others. Oh, and shouldn't forget hot. That's an awful one, too.
"Isn't it hot pink?" Tooth corrected, not noticing Jack cringe. "I mean, I guess you could mean carnation pink, orchid pink, congo pink, charmpinkqueenpinkbarbiepinkparadisepinkpastelpinkcottoncandy— " Baby Tooth chirped. "Right! And amaranth pink, too. There's just so much pink! Healthy gums pink..." A few Tooth minions nodded in agreement, while the Queen herself held her hands to her heart, breathing a happy sigh.
"No pink!" North massaged his forehead. "Last time we tried was disaster. We stick with green, red, gold, silver, etc."
Jack raised his hand.
"Yes, Jack?"
"If you're already so sure what color the wrapping paper will be, why are you asking us?"
"Because it is important to listen to others' opinions."
"I think he just wanted something to talk about, mate." Bunny whispered. Jack barely suppressed a snicker. North does love to talk. Not that this bothered Jack. It kept conversations going and kept their visits to the Pole lively.
As North and Bunny got into an argument about who knows what, Jack felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning, he found himself peering down at the short, golden member of the group. If it isn't my target, Sanderson Mansnoozie.
Sandy pointed toward the ceiling, a question mark forming out of his dreamsand. Jack followed the Guardian of Dream's finger to some elves in the rafters, playing tug-of-war with an open bucket of some of, what Jack assumed was, a homemade elf creation. To make matters more… interesting, the two were directly over the bickering North and Bunny.
Should I tell them? Normally, Jack would have found the situation hilarious, and would have rooted for the substance to 'slip' from the elves' hands (with maybe a little push from the wind). However, he did not know if letting his newfound acquaintances get drenched with an unknown liquid was the polite thing to do. I probably should warn them, but it would be so funny if it fell.
Another tap on his shoulder.
This time, Sandy held a finger to his lips, a mischievous smile playing in his eyes. Jack raised an eyebrow, a grin stretching wide across his face.
As it turned out, the liquid did spill. Bunnymund leapt out of the way, while North pulled out an umbrella, opening it just in time for the purple substance to splatter on its surface. "That was close one!" North laughed, flicking goop off his umbrella.
Winter's first thoughts were of disappointment that the goo didn't reach his senior guardians. That disappointment, however, soon bubbled out, replaced by confusion. Wait… why does North have an umbrella? Where was he even keeping it?
"Hey, Sandy. Why does North have a— " Jack halted, realizing that Sandy was snoring.
"PHIL!" Wonder roared. "Come clean up mess!" Jack could just make out a shout in Yetish, followed by a slam.
The winter spirit's mind wandered back to his earlier scheming revolving around Sandy, and the game that was born from it. This will be fun. I'll definitely figure you out, Sandman.
This game that Jack referred to was more of an espionage mission, really; his main goal being to collect information on the guardian. It wasn't that Jack really knew much about any of the guardians, but Sandy puzzled him the most. It may have been because Jack didn't understand the symbols Sandy often turned to (though he was sure that he would get better with practice). Maybe it was the fact that Sandy seemed to be the most mature of all the guardians, while keeping an almost childish personality. All Jack knew, was that he wanted to know more about the curiosity that was the Sandman. And, if nothing else, he would have fun in his attempts.
Alright. Mission Understanding Sandy is a go.
MISSION A - OBSERVE TARGET
Finally, something interesting to do.
The meeting was over and the guardians began to head out.
Where does Sandy live, anyway?
"Make sure to come visit my palace, Jack." Tooth smiled.
"I will." A sandcastle, maybe?
"Oh! And your teeth better be just as perfect as they are now next time I see you."
"I'm sure they will be." A cloud?
"Promise me."
Jack groaned, but his eyes retained their usual playful attitude. "I promise that the next time you see me, my teeth will be as clean and white and sparkly as freshly fallen snow." Tooth nodded in approval, while Bunny snorted.
"I think you've tortured him enough for one day, sheila."
"Torture...?" Memory fluttered angrily toward the Pooka. "I'll have you know that dental hygiene is important to the well-being of all! And Jack doesn't mind, do you Jack?"
But Jack didn't answer.
He was busy watching Sandy, not even aware of the tooth fairies that had been tugging on his mouth, hoping for one last peek at his glorious teeth before leaving with Tooth.
Maybe he's a nomad?
Sandy, noticing the winter spirit's gaze, smiled with a wave before disappearing out a window.
If it's always night somewhere, does he ever stop working? Or does the dreamsand self-handle the dreams?
"I think his silence proves my statement." Aster concluded.
Jack began making his way toward the window that Sandy had exited from. "I'd better get going, too. Bye North. Tooth. Kangaroo."
"It's Bunny— " But Jack was gone. Bunnymund crossed his arms. "And after I defended him, too."
Tooth gave a half-hearted glare. "Yeah, you defended him from a real monster: dental care."
North stroked his beard. "If you two do not stop, I will set yeti on you."
Tooth gaped. "But you two were just... oh, nevermind! Come along, ladies." Bunnymund rolled his eyes as a few teeth stuck tongues out at him.
"Women." The Pooka muttered.
Jack gazed at the dreamsand in awe as it made its way to the minds of the children. In his distraction, the boy lost sight of Sandy.
This is why I'm not a secret agent.
Jack scoured the area for the guardian, catching sight of him in a quiet suburb of London. Winter raced toward Sandy, forgetting to hide himself in his relief at having found him. He almost choked when the Sandman turned toward him.
Aaahhh! In Jack's hurry to get out of sight, he lost his grip on his staff. No! He almost caught it several times, but the conduit fell out of reach, bringing Jack, and a cry of panic, with it. He hadn't been very high in the air, but falling into the dumpster was a relatively unpleasant experience.
Jack crinkled his nose. My luck is wonderful.
After carefully removing a banana peel from his beloved staff, the boy leaped back into the wind to see Sandy still in the spot he had been previously, his back turned.
"I guess he didn't see me." Jack whispered, a little louder than he meant to. Or hear me, he thought,his cheeks growing a bit flustered at his own clumsiness, not to mention the gasp of surprise (as Jack downplayed it) that followed.
Sandy laughed silently.
MISSION B - ENGAGE TARGET
The dreams are great, but does Sandy do anything else?
The last few hours had been nothing but spreading dreamsand, and though Jack was fascinated by them, his attention span was not the longest.
Alright. Part two of my mission: test Sandy's reactions to random situations. Or, one situation, at least.
Sandy, as Jack noticed, had a sense of humor. A silent one, but it was there. And sometimes, those with a sense of humor could be just as entertaining as those who didn't.
I've got to do this one carefully, or I'll be caught.
The opportunity came in a small town in Canada, where a blizzard had recently passed. Jack chuckled darkly as he spotted a particularly unstable, snow-covered tree. A snowball in his hand, he waited until the Sandman was directly beneath it.
Thud.
Jack didn't even attempt to suppress a chuckle as Sandy widens his eyes, completely engulfed in a cold, wet heap.
Dreams blinked several times, then continued his journey, not bothering to wipe off the pile of snow that remained on top of his head.
That was perfect, Jack beamed. I bet it would be better with Bunny as the target, though. His reaction would be priceless.
Jack didn't notice Sandy raise an eyebrow at his hiding spot before continuing to spread his dreams.
MISSION C - REALIZE THAT I FAIL AT THIS MISSION THING
Jack had followed Sandy to Burgess, but had almost immediately lost him upon entering the town.
Fantastic. I haven't learned anything about Sandy that I didn't already know.
Weird. Jack didn't see any dreamsand about.
Where did you go? The winter spirit wandered the town aimlessly. I guess my dream of a career in covert operations will never be fulfilled. Jack sighed dramatically. I could cry.
A small tail of sand shone at Burgess park. There! Jack landed in the park, stumbling a bit as he touched the frosty ground. There was no Sandy in sight.
"Now!"
Cold arsenal bombarded Jack, leaving his mind a bit muffled as he tried to process the situation. After a moment, he laughed, "Hey, no fair!"
"All's fair in love and war!" Jack's vision cleared after a several minutes of only snow-filled sight. He glanced around to see Jamie and his friends, each playfully tossing and catching snowballs in one hand.
"Alright, remember, you asked for it." In seconds, Jack had a small fort and countless piles of ammo. The children giggled, hiding behind park benches as the snowball war continued.
"Alright, Jack!" Jamie called, his clothes dusted over with snow. "You win!"
"And the moral of this story is: don't pick a snowball fight with a winter spirit." Jack smirked.
"Next time, you'll be on our team!" Pippa announced, brushing snow off her pants with one hand, and dragging Cupcake by her arm with the other. "You, Cupcake, and I will destroy the others." Cupcake agreed by pounding her fist into her hand.
"No way! Jack's gonna be on our team." Caleb argued.
"Ladies, ladies. We can take turns, so I'll be on both of your teams." He balanced his staff on the palm of his hand, grasping it with the other hand when a gust of wind blew it over. Gee, thanks Wind. The winter spirit could almost hear the wind howl with laughter(both figuratively and literally). "How'd you guys know I'd be here, by the way?" But Jack already knew the answer.
"How do you think?" Jamie ridded his scarf of a good liter of ice.
"Sandy."
Jack grinned sheepishly. Busted.
He had caught sight of the spirit floating above the town— a spectator of the children's snow war. Knowing that the Sandman was waiting for him, and that ignoring him would be a… bad idea, Jack hesitantly drifted toward him after a quick goodbye to Jamie and his friends.
Sandy's hands were placed firmly on his hips, a question mark above his head. Jack's smile faltered at the serious expression displayed across the other's face.
Oh no. I didn't make him mad, did I? The thought that the Sandman would be angry with Jack's escapades had never crossed his mind.
Sandy waited.
"Uh, I guess I just wanted to find out more about you? To get to know you better?" Yeah, good excuse Jack.
The Sandman folded his arms in a 'really?' gesture. He created an image of Jack and himself communicating.
Uuuummmmm... Let's see...
The golden man replaced the image with another question mark.
Why didn't I just ask him? Jack hoped his guess was correct. "What would be the fun in just asking?" Sandy scrunched his eyebrows. Shrugging, he created the image of an open book.
"A book. I'm an open book?" Okay…?
Sandy shook his head.
"Stories?" Sandy nodded.
He wants to tell me stories about himself? Still not as interesting as a spy mission, but…
"You're right, I bet you would have some good stories to tell."
Sandy has been around longer than me. I wonder what it was like back then? The idea of simply speaking to the Sandman about himself no longer seemed quite as boring as it had previously. Jack let out a sigh of defeat. "Maybe I should have just asked. I don't want to pry, but would you tell me some?"
Dreams smiled, creating sand images of a hunched Sanderson with a walker, followed by a clock with it's hands moving rapidly.
Jack chuckled. "You're old and that could take a while?"
Sandy nodded, giving the boy a thumbs up.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing we're immortal." Jack sat criss-cross on his staff, as if he were on the ground and not hundreds of feet in the air. Maybe he can tell me how the other guardians got started. Or maybe where Pitch came from. Would Manny create a spirit whose sole purpose is to scare children? Jack shook his head. That doesn't sound right, but I think I'll save that one for later. "Can you tell me how all of you became guardians?"
Sandy tapped his chin, then shook his head. "Awwww. Why not?" The symbols that the Guardian of Dreams produced were too quick for Jack to make sense of, but some involved the winter spirit speaking with other guardians.
Jack brought his eyes down to his lap. Go ask the others? The feeling that he was unwanted resurfaced after slowly diminishing over the past few months. Haha. That's right. I'm just wasting his time. Of course he doesn't want to talk with me.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your work. I'll just go now."
Sandy waved his hands back and forth, shaking his head vigorously. He held a hand to his forehead, while the other was held out in a 'stop' gesture to keep Jack from fleeing.
Another series of symbols.
"So, you'll tell me about yourself, but not the others?"
Sandy clapped his hands. Not in a condescending way, but in relief that he had gotten his message across.
"I get it. Not your place to tell me their histories, but judging from how this conversation has been going, I'm not exactly sure how an entire story would go." Realizing that what he said may have been offensive, he hurriedly added, "Don't take it the wrong way. You're great with the sand symbols, but..."
Sandy silently laughed, but Jack wasn't sure as to why. Should I be concerned? Am I missing something? Dreams motioned for Winter to follow him, before drifting towards a patch of grass below. Sandy's eyes glowed mischievously. Is that how I look when I get an idea? Jack didn't really have time to think about the matter further, as the last thing he saw after landing was a flash of gold before blacking out.
Opening his eyes, the winter spirit laid eyes on what was certainly not the earth he knew. Or the earth at all for that matter. Jack glanced about the dream, realization dawning.
Cool! So this is what you meant, Sandy. I stand corrected. This could potentially be more fun than anything I had planned.
A/N For those who may want to know, this one-shot takes place in late fall, the same year as the movie. These stories will not be in chronological order, so there will probably be more from before this as well as after. I haven't read the Guardians of Childhood books yet (I know, shame on me), but I'm trying to keep the guardian's backgrounds mostly with book canon from what I've heard from other fanfictions and from the wiki page.
This one-shot had the angst toned-down quite a bit, but I hope those who read it enjoyed it! And thanks again to all who read, reviewed, favorited, or followed! Please tell me what you think! Suggestions, both on one-shot ideas or for my writing for this story in general, and criticisms are welcome! :D