Author's Note: Have you ever forgotten that your Top Ramen is up on the stove and come back to it later and see that what you're now having for lunch is a sort of noodle puree? XD lol whelp. That happened. Sorry for late update, uber busy with my crappy life :(
Rated T for cutting (hey no cussing in this cha- oh wait… never mind :3) and cussing
"So, uh… what're we doing here again?" Jack questioned the golden spirit as they wandered through the long serpentine halls of the… well, whatever it was. Jack had assumed that it was an age-old abandoned library after seeing the endless rows of dusty bookshelves lined with even older books and stacks of yellowing paper. But as they walked deeper into the eerie stone building, the books were gradually replaced with locked chests and containers of the like. Deeper still, there was a wide variety of antique objects, which consisted of what seemed like a little bit of everything doused with dust and vacant cobwebs. Jack inspected the different items that engulfed the shelves inquisitively as they passed. Hourglasses, teddy bears, monocles, keys, a dying bouquet of gray roses… all of which looked to be untouched for centuries. He had to admit, it was kind of cool.
The winter spirit returned his attention to the Sandman and managed to skit to a halt before he could accidentally run him over. The dream keeper stopped in front of a thick brown book and was carefully pulling it off the shelf.
"We came all this way to read a dictionary?" He joked. Jack looked back at the items on the bookshelf as Sandy impatiently sifted through the books contents, and squinted to make out a familiar shape sitting on a bundle of papers in the far back of the shelf. It looked sort of like a memory capsule from the Tooth Palace, only painted black. The newest guardian shot a sneaky sideways glance at Sandy; he was completely ensnared in his task, which must have been trying to find a certain page in the book. Upon seeing this, Jack smirked wickedly and plucked the capsule off the shelf to better inspect it. It looked exactly like the capsule that held his teeth, except the parts that were supposed to be gold were black and the design on the flat side was made up of Xs and not diamonds. Jack tilted the container and looked at the face on the side. It was of a pale girl with medium auburn hair and a mischievous smirk much like his own, wearing a black baseball cap backwards upon her head. But if these were a child's memories, then what were they doing down here?
Sandy tugged at Jack's sleeve, and upon getting his full attention, swiped the memory capsule from his hand with a stern look. The words, Don't touch! appeared over his head in dreamsand.
"W-well, shouldn't we give it to Tooth? It belongs back at her palace doesn't it?"
Sandy shook his head no, and the sand words above his head changed. Dark spirit memories must be kept separate.
"Oh," Jack mumbled, and thought to himself, Sure. Whatever that means. Sandy replaced the capsule back up on the shelf and picked up the book again, this time handing it to Jack. While Jack would've said that the book was just too heavy for him in the first place, his strength had dwindled significantly. He was forced to sit down and allow the book to rest on his lap because his frail arms could barely hold it up. The winter spirit opened the cover and scrolled over the first page curiously, which looked to be neatly written in bold black ink, but in a manner that confused the poor boy.
Yes.
No, I will tell him myself.
Well, I will make use of it!
I suppose we should check on Harriet.
Why not?
That makes sense… later then…
The rest of the writing went on like this, as if only half of a conversation was documented. Still fairly confused, Jack flipped the page and inspected the words on the other side, hoping that maybe the other part of the conversation would be there, only to see that it was the same. Jack flipped the crumbling pages, each time expelling a mini cloud of dust and breaking the awkward silence with the crinkling of the ancient pages. After what to be at least a dozen pages, the writing abruptly stopped in the middle of the page.
I have to go. I wish you lu was all that was written here. Jack looked up to Sandy questioningly, who was staring off into space, deep in thought. Most likely thinking about ways to fix me, what's wrong with me… Jack's thoughts wavered as he thumbed through the back paged of the book. All of them were blank.
"Uh…what's the point of this, exactly?" Jack asked, gesturing to the unfinished ink context on the half empty page. Sandy grinned, placing a finger on the book and nodding to the paper, the look on his face clearly reading look again.
"C'mon, Sandy! There's nothing-" The guardian of fun argued as he looked back down to the page once more. "…here…" his voice trailed off after seeing the new text that was written upon the page.
Well, it's much more convenient than constantly having to use my dreamsand!
"Y-you…? Did you write this?" Jack marveled, tapping the yellowing page with his index finger. He quickly withdrew it as his own words were scrawled below Sandy's.
Did you write this?
The winter sprite looked back up to Sandy, whose hand was now resting against the opposite page. New writing began to form under Jack's unintentional statement.
Careful, the pages are enchanted. Your words, either spoken or thought, are written onto the paper if your hand is on the page.
"Wicked… Can I try it again?"
Okay, just this once.
Jack stifled a chuckle and placed his pale finger back on the page.
Hi
Hi
Hi
Hi
Hi
Hi
Hi
Hi
Hi
Hi
Sandy's dreamsand sifted as his belly racked with laughter and he swatted Jack (who was madly giggling to himself) away from the page with an ear-to-ear grin.
Okay, I think that's enough messing with the enchanted pages for you!
As Jack's gut bursting laughter resonated off the stone walls, he nimbly readjusted the arm beneath the heavy book so that his hands weren't too close to the book's pages. He chuckled.
"That's awesome,"
I told you it would be cool!
"Where'd ya get it?" Jack inquired, staring down at the page awaiting a response.
A close friend of mine just threw it together for me because my sand pictographs weren't really working as a good form of communication.
"Well your friend and I can relate!" Jack laughed.
In more ways than one, I'm afraid. In fact, she reminds me of you, especially in terms of language! I don't think I've ever met a spirit with such a potty-mouth… besides you, of course.
"Alright alright," Jack said, eager to change the subject. "So, these pages are supposed to speak for you, in a way?"
Precisely.
"Then what's it doing down here?"
My friend and I agreed to leave it here so that both of us can access it… it's a good tool for telling others what you can't manage to say out loud.
"Man, I need one of these…hey, uh, speaking of which, where's here? What is this place, like an underground spirit public library, or basement storage maybe?"
It's known to many spirits as Sanctuary. It's a place where all kinds of spirits, most commonly those who have no residual space or those who are constantly moving, can leave their belongings. These belongings - from both their mortal life and their immortal one - can be stored here without having to worry about them being stolen or tampered with.
"Cool… so do the other Guardians use it too?"
Sandy thought about this for a moment or two before responding.
North stores some spare toys and coal here… I think Bunny stored some paints and brushes here not too long ago, and Tooth keeps the dark spi
The writing automatically paused when Jack spoke. "Whoa, wait! … Bunny's stuff is down here too?" a devious look consumed his smile, spreading to his bright blue eyes and infecting them with a malicious sparkle. Sandy snapped his fingers in front of Jack's face, pulling his attention from his fantasy of revenge to the new ink text on the page.
Don't even think about it. The whole reason it's in Sanctuary is to keep you from messing with it.
Jack huffed, mumbling something inaudible but most likely childish under his breath before unknowingly zoning out, forcing Sandy to again snap his fingers and redirect his attention to the new words.
Bunny cares about you, you know? He was just trying t
"What?" Jack laughed sardonically. "He doesn't care about me! He doesn't care about anyone but his googies and hi-" the stern look he received from Sandy made him too afraid to finish his comment. He looked back down to the book.
Bunny wouldn't hurt your shoulder like that unless it was for a good reason, or just to get you to listen. Were you deliberately disregarding what he was saying to you? Or did you instigate something?
Jack's facial expression gave it away.
Look, I don't know you as well as I do Bunny, but knowing that you're still technically a teenager and always have to have the last word
"Hey!" Jack whined.
Odds are you were just reciprocating. What did he do to make you mad?
Jack shifted uneasily, suddenly uncomfortable with where this was going. He gnawed on his lower lip nervously.
"Well, uh… you know, he uh… he said some things…"
Sandy glanced up at Jack as the boy gripped the book mercilessly, his bright blue eyes looking a bit waterier than they were before. He knew all too well that there was more to it, but decided to leave it alone. What good would it do by making the poor kid feel trapped? He swiftly changed the subject.
You know, this place is at least 700 years old, and this is only the first floor. Care for a tour?
"…Eh, why not?"
Bunny was not expecting it.
Of all things he wasn't expecting to see, it had to be this?
Jack never really struck him as the type of spirit to cut. It just didn't fit him. Then again, how could Bunny say that after mistreating him all those years? How can he say that about Jack when he barely even knew the bloke? Come to think of it, he didn't think that anyone really knew him enough to judge him like that.
Bunnymund kept reminiscing back to that moment, that one moment when he caught a glimpse of Jack's red wrists, and then looked back up to meet the terror on his face. That heartbreaking, unbearable look of terror that said to him he knows. Oh my god, he knows. The look that meant he was too scared to move, too scared to even take a breath…. Something that Bunny and the others couldn't stand to see on him or any child.
As odd as it sounded, he didn't really feel bad for stabbing the kid; obviously it was the only way to get the bloody drongo to understand what he was trying to say. He just wouldn't listen. Was it that hard to understand? "You need help, and if you're too stubborn to accept it, you just might die," … okay, granted, it didn't necessarily go like that word for word… alright, it didn't sound like that at all. In fact, the way Bunny tried to express his worry for Jack could easily be called cruel and unusual, but he swears he didn't mean for it to escalate like that. Sometimes Jack could just be so…
"Uugh!" The Pooka exclaimed out of frustration, and the sound echoed off of the stone corridors of Sanctuary. He'd found Jack's staff, unharmed and under a protective layer of snow. He was surprised at how light it was, how frail it was. It was because of this that it reminded him of Jack. A frail, skinny little thing that looked as if it would snap if under too much pressure. Yup, that was Jack, all right. Jack was easily under 110 pounds, too easy to flop over your shoulder like a bag of wheat, but too fragile to toss around like a rag doll.
"I'm not going anywhere," Jack huffed, clambering up from the ground with his good arm and glaring holes through Bunny. "You fucking cheated."
"No ah didn't,"
"Yes you did, and you know it! It's not fair!" Jack turned around and began to walk away. "I'm not gonna go wi- whoah!" Jack's statement was cut short as Bunny hopped in front of him and nonchalantly flung him over his shoulder.
"Wha- hey! What the- fuck?! Hey! Put- me- down!" The injured winter sprite demanded. His breath was knocked out of him every time Bunny took a step, resulting in a fairly awkward, but funny sounding Jack Frost.
Bunny couldn't help but to laugh. "Why should I do that, mate?"
"So I- can kick- your ass!"
"Mmm nope. I don't think ah will."
"Bu- nny!"
It was funny how the whole thing played out. Well, funny for Bunny at least. He couldn't really say the same for Jack at that point.
Speaking of Jack… where was he?
Bunnymund knew he was somewhere in Sanctuary. He followed his scent here, and as he kept going down the stairs to the other floors, it was getting stronger. Sandy must've taken him down here to get his mind off of all the stuff that was going on. Bunny's ears slightly drooped as a twinge of guilt overtook him. After Jack just stopped worrying about everything, he would be the one to just bring it back up to the kid. Great.
He saw the two guardians sitting in one of the hallways in the sixth floor (well technically it was the -6th floor, but that wasn't important). Sandy was showing him an old photo album with a gentle smirk upon his golden face, and Jack was smiling too, a sight that Tooth as well as himself absolutely couldn't get enough of; for Tooth, because she loved his teeth, of course. For Bunny, because it meant he forgot everything wrong going on in the world around him. Because it fooled the Pooka for a split second into thinking that their newest guardian was okay.
But he wasn't.
"That's you?" the winter spirit lightheartedly laughed as he pointed at one of the photos in the album. Sandy nodded vigorously, and then pointed to the being beside him in the picture.
"Aw…no way…"
"Oi! Frostbite!" Bunny called. Jack looked up to the Pooka as he sprinted down the hallway, the staff in his paw. But the staff wasn't why Jack stood up excitedly and came to meet him halfway.
Before Bunny could speak, Jack giggled, "You had a Mohawk?!"
The Easter Bunny groaned. Sandy was showing him that photo album.
"'Alrigh', listen, it was just for a Halloween Party and I lost a bet prior, now here's your sta-"
"You still have a Mohawk!?" Jack exclaimed, leaning forward and rubbing the soft fur in between Bunny's ears. His ears & tail twitched, and his foot would've began to thump the ground had he not grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away gently. "Hey! 'S not a Mohawk," he said sternly, slightly shaking the hand in his grasp for emphasis.
Jack cracked up, his laughter resounding off the walls. "Yeah it is, dude!"
Bunny's deadpan expression to the winter sprite slowly shifted to Sandy. "North wants Jack back up at the Pole now, Sanderson, and he wants ta meet you at Tooth's."
Jack moaned in annoyance. "What!? Back to the prison!? Whyyyyyyyyy-"
"Many reasons, Jack. The first being that North needs someone to watch his Workshop while he goes somewhere with Tooth."
"Well why don't the yetis-"
"Second, you lost our game, and you said you would."
Jack huffed. "Cuz you chea-"
"And third," Bunny said loudly as to be heard over Jack's childish ranting. Sandy, who was engrossed in the photo album, didn't notice Bunny's serious tone, which came down to just above a whisper so that only him and Jack could hear it.
"You an' I need tah talk 'bout somethin, mate," Bunnymund said, giving the thin wrist that was still in his paw a firm squeeze. Jack winced at the stinging that traveled down his arm and looked up at Bunny incredulously, who seemed unmoved as his eyes dug into his own. They were full of his secrets.
Jack knew what he planned to talk to him about then and there.
And he really, really wasn't looking forward to it.
I HAD NO TIME TO EDIT I WILL DO SO LATER THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING
Author's Note: So I was watching this little kid show, Wild Kratts, with my little brothers, and it has a pretty catchy intro song. I caught myself singing it in public out of boredom. It's just so catchy XD
~~~Review and you'll have a chance to win! … ha just kidding, you won't win anything… except a chapter update much sooner than this one was : ) Seems legit, amIright?
Next chapter there will be angst/drama, fluff, then back to angst (in that order). :D
969~696