Connected to "Learning a Language"

"Phil!"

The yeti turned at the sound of his name. The cheerful voice that called it out could only belong to one spirit.

Jack Frost

Phil stopped in his tracks and waited for Jack to fly up next to him. He was panting, probably because he used all his energy to get to the pole with all the speed he and the winds could muster. His bare feet touched the ground and left a small frost pattern. Phil knew that before that melted, some one would definitely slip on that...

Jack leaned against Phil for a moment to catch his breathe, but as soon as he regained it, he began asking questions.

"So, I've been wondering why I don't ever practice speaking yetish. I mean, I understand it well enough, even though there's a bunch I still need to learn, but how come you've never asked me to speak it?"

Phil had wondered if Jack would notice that. He had learned almost three languages before he started Yetish after all.

"With the other languages I've learned, teachers ask students to speak it so they can know how to pronounce things correctly, and it actually helps them remember it more." Jack continued. "Speaking a language, and being able to understand it are two completely different things. I've actually never heard anyone speak Yetish besides you yetis." He paused a bit, then laughed as he pointed out that he didn't know any other people besides himself and North who knew Yetish.

"Well, anyways, I just wanted to see if it would be difficult to actually speak it instead of just listening to it."

Phil was about to respond when Jack opened his mouth again. The yeti assumed he just had more to ask about the subject, so he decided to wait, thinking it better to answer all questions at the same time. When Jack did start speaking, Phil almost let out a laugh.

He spoke in Yetish.

The yeti language was a harsh and low language, not meant for Jack's playful childish voice. What Jack was saying was understood easily enough by Phil, but he was having a hard time concealing his laughter. It was so strange and hilarious to hear his language sounding so different.

A passing yeti seemed to have less control then Phil, because he collapsed to the ground upon hearing Jack speak. After seeing his companion let it loose, Phil couldn't stand it anymore and almost fell to the ground as well. Tears were forming in his eyes and he hardly noticed when Jack stopped and just stared at the two yetis that were uncontrollably laughing at him.

"What?" He asked, a bit offended that Phil would laugh at him so much. "Did I say it wrong? I thought I was saying it right..." He thought it was a bit funny to see the big creatures on the ground laughing, and felt a smile coming to him, but he didn't want to join them right now. He wanted to know what they thought was so funny about him speaking Yetish.

Phil finally was able to stop laughing hard enough that he could let out some grumbled explanation. He told Jack that when other races tried to speak Yetish they only ended up making it sound awkward, weird, or in Jack's case, funny. He let another chuckle escape him, letting it slip to Jack that North was the same way.

The other yeti that had been laughing had also calmed down a bit, but one mention of North speaking Yetish brought the big creature back into another laughing fit.

The winter spirit's eyes lit up at that. What would North sound like in Yetish? Would he still have his accent? Jack joined in the yeti's laughter as he thought about what it would be like to hear it.

Phil cast a worried glance at Jack. He knew exactly what the boy was thinking of. Dang it! Now he'll probably bug me till I get North to speak some Yetish for him...

"Phil, you gotta get North to speak some Yetish for me." He said between laughs.

Phil gave a quick negative reply.

Jack shot up and looked at Phil. "No, no, no, no... it'd be easy, I already have a perfect plan to get him to do it." He said quickly, a big smile playing on his lips.

At another negative response Jack gave a sigh. "Come on, I got to know what it sounds like. I can't tell what's so funny about me speaking Yetish. To me it sounds right, since I'm the one speaking it. If I hear North speak it, I can compare it to you and I'll be in on your little joke. It's no fun if you have an inside joke that I'm not a part of..." Jack gave a pout and waited for Phil to give in. He knew it would happen eventually.

Reluctantly, Phil gave in to his request. Right after he agreed, he realized that this happened a lot... Jack would come to him with a request, Phil would say no, Jack would whine and complain or argue with him and in the end Phil would do it.

He shook his head in laughter. There was just something about Jack Frost that he couldn't say 'no' to.

When Phil looked up and saw the excited look on the boy's face, he smiled again as he realized that 'something' was just seeing Jack so happy.

"Okay, Here's the plan, Phil..." Jack floated a bit so the two of the were eye level. "When you wake up, just pretend like you can't understand English, and go see North. He'll have to eventually use Yetish to ask what's wrong. I'll be waiting nearby to hear it. Easy enough right?"

It was a simple idea, not too complicated that it could mess up too easily. The only problem Phil could see is what Jack meant by 'wake up'... Would this start tomorrow morning? If so, would Jack spend the night so he would be here to witness it?

Phil's questions were answered when he took a step forwards. He felt the ground beneath his foot suddenly turn to ice. He let out a garbled cry of surprise. Unable to get his balance on the frozen ground, he started falling to the floor.

The wall met him first.

He hit his head on the wall, then bumped it again when he got to the floor. The last thing he heard before falling into unconsciousness were the words of a worried Jack Frost.

"Oops... Hope that didn't hurt too bad..."

When Phil woke up, he found himself staring into blue eyes. He thought for a moment it was Jack, but once he was more fully up, he could tell they weren't as bright. It was just another yeti who was now looking at him in concern. When he waved him away, the yeti suggested he go tell North about the mischievous and trouble making frost spirit that had frozen the hallways.

Phil gave a start at that. He suddenly looked around and found that most of the hallway had indeed been turned to ice. He growled and told himself that Jack wouldn't be getting any treats from him the next time he came over.

Now that he thought about it... where was Jack? The whole point of this little act was to get Jack to listen to North speak Yetish. Where did he go?

As he though back on the boy's words, Jack did say that he would be near enough to hear North... Maybe he was close to his study, probably floating outside the large window. Phil stood up, and quickly leaned on the yeti near him for support. A wave of dizziness came over him, but it faded. He gave an eye roll that would have been directed at Jack had he been there, and promised himself that it would be at least a month before Jack would get any treats from him. Thats what the boy would get for making him fall so hard...

Phil set off for North's study, going slower than normal, in case he got dizzy again, but he was fine up to the point when he reached his boss's doors.

He waited a moment, reminding himself to not respond to any English, then he strolled right in like nothing was any different from any other day. He called a greeting to North, who immediately looked up from his work.

"Ah, Phil, is good to see you, yes?" He replied happily

Phil did a quick scan of the room, hoping to see Jack near.

There!

To the side, outside the large window of the room hovered Jack. He was looking on in excitement. One of the windows was open a bit, allowing him to hear everything that went on in the room. Phil returned his gaze to North and gave him a confused look, hoping that he would be able to pull this off well enough for Jack.

"Is something wrong?" North asked, a bit of concern coming into his voice.

Phil garbled some Yetish, explaining that he couldn't understand what North had just said.

The large man look surprised at that. "You can't understand me?"

Phil was about to nod when he caught himself. Instead he just replied with a "What did you just say?"

"This is most confusing..." North mumbled. "Phil!" He said, bringing the yeti's attention to him even though it never left.

The Russian spoke laud and clear, slowly too."Which is better, Christmas or Easter?"

Phil only gave a shrug, showing that he still didn't understand what North was asking.

North thought for a moment and repeated the question a bit hesitantly... this time, it was in Yetish.

Phil gave a quick smile to the figure outside the window, and answered the Guardian's question.

North looked confused and unsure of what to do. He began asking what had happened to Phil that day, all in Yetish.

Jack watched as North was pulled into speaking Yetish. When he first heard the big man speak, he almost burst into laughter right there. It sounded completely different from the way the yetis spoke their language. Jack tried to hold in his laughter, but the more North spoke it, the more he realized why the yetis had laughed so hard. It must have been even funnier when Jack, himself had done it, since he voice was higher and lighter.

There came a point when Jack just let it out and laughed, causing him to fall out of the sky. He landed in a snow drift on an overhanging cliff, and he was completely covered in snow for a few moments. Unknown to him, that was when North looked outside to see what the noise was. When the Russian saw nothing, he went back into his study. It was just after that that Jack popped out and started laughing again. Oh, this was great! One of Jack's previous questions had been answered. North did indeed keep his accent while speaking Yetish.

Jack looked back at the window and wondered if Phil was holding in his laughter any better then he did with Jack's attempts at the language. Jack tried to calm down a bit, and finally was able to let the winds carry him towards the previously arranged meeting place for after the prank.

Jack had gotten there a bit early, but with his sides hurting so much from laughing, he didn't think he could handle hearing North much longer. He was almost gasping for air, and tried to calm himself. It didn't work. One thought of Phil and it sent his mind right back to North's Yetish speaking.

Phil, meanwhile, was containing his joy a bit better then Jack was. Right when the winter spirit had let out a cry of laughter, North had immediately turned around. Jack had already fallen to the ground though. Phil was slightly worried for a bit when North looked out the window, but when he saw nothing but a snow drift underneath his study, North returned to looking at Phil. More Yetish came as he tried to figure out why Phil suddenly couldn't understand English.

When Phil didn't see Jack reappear at the window, he assumed that the boy went to their meeting place. Phil quickly interrupted North, shoved a note in his hands, and ran out with a grumbled "Sorry", trying not to let his laughs escape him.

The Russian stood there in shock for a moment, but eventually looked down at the paper Phil had given him.

I was challenged by a friend to get you to

speak Yetish. Hope you didn't mind it too

much. No worries about me though, I still

completely understand English...

Sorry

-Phil

North was surprised that Phil would do that. He was the most responsible, mature, leader-like, work-centered yeti that was here. He didn't mind though, he felt that Phil needed to loosen up and have some fun every now and then. They were making toys for children, weren't they? They should enjoy it, and relax a bit... not too much of course, they didn't want to fall behind on schedule.

North only really had one question. Who was his friend? Anyone who could get Phil out of his normal tight routine, and make him enjoy himself for a while was okay in North's book.

When Phil entered the room, he saw Jack standing by the window. The winds were playing with his hair, and he was whispering to them. Phil closed the door, causing Jack to quickly turn around. His face lit up and he flew over to the yeti. "I can see why you laughed at me earlier." He said calmly, though Phil could tell Jack was trying extremely hard to keep his voice normal.

The two just stared at each other for a moment before they collapsed to the ground. "That w-was incredible!" Jack breathed out between his laughs.

Phil nodded, saying he had completely forgotten what North sounded like.

"How often does he speak it?"

The yeti shrugged, saying that it doesn't happen very often. It is a surprise when ever it does occur though. North had quickly noticed how he sounds compared to the yetis so he found it better to just speak English.

The two of them lay on the floor, each breathing hard from laughing and enjoying themselves too much. A silence came between them, but they liked it. A few minuets past when the door opened. A yeti poked his head in, looking for Phil. When he saw the two just laying on the floor, he gave them each a strange look. They shared a smirk with each other, but then Phil excused himself.

The yeti that had interrupted them started talking with Phil and reporting on how toy production was going on. Jack, who found this all very boring since he couldn't see any of the toys, jumped up and pelted Phil with a quick snowball.

Before either yeti could react, Jack was out of the room, and heading for the open air of the North Pole. He laughed as Phil called out to him with an angered cry, and he zoomed out of an open window from a room he had passed.

The winds playfully carried him above the pole, allowing him a beautiful view of the guardian's home. He glanced at the large window outside North's study and felt snickers escape him. He couldn't believe Phil actually did it, but man was he glad he did.

Jack let the winds pull him towards the south to bring snow to where ever it was needed. After a while, he recognized the landscape beneath him. He was flying over Russia. As he flew lower he briefly thought about trying to get better at the language, but a passing man, speaking to his friend, reminded Jack of North, and his accent while speaking yetish!

Jack just laughed again, and decided that it would be a long time before he could even try to speak that language again.

A/N:

Dark Inu Fan, can I just say that your review was great. You like... read my mind.

Anyways, there you guys go. A brand new chapter. I based this off of my sister. She tries to speak small Japanese phrases, but it sounds awkward and funny when she does... I hope I described alright.