Jack looked at the scene before him as a wave of worry rushed through him. Phil lay on the ground, his eyes shut tight as he tried to get over the pain coming from his leg.
Jack was pretty sure it was broken, but he wasn't sure. If the bone had been sticking out, or maybe if it had been bent at an odd angle, then he would probably know for sure, but Jack was just glad that it wasn't as bad looking as it could have been.
Phil let out a groan, and Jack winched as guilt filled him. It was partially- okay, completely his fault that this happened.
All he wanted to do was have that rematch of their tunnel race. It had been awhile since he had brought it up, hoping to catch Phil off guard and get him into the stables.
For the first while, it had seemed like it was never going to happen, but then Jack came up with a plan. Why wait around for something to bring Phil to the stables when he could do something to make it happen?
Shortly after, Jack crept into the stables. Comet was easy enough to find, and was quite pleased to see the winter spirit. After Jack had said his 'hellos' to his friend, while acting as casually as possible in front of the handler yetis, he leaned in and quietly whispered in the reindeer's ear. All he asked was if Comet could do a little teeny tiny favor for him.
Of course, Comet readily agreed. The reindeer was bored out of his mind and having anything to do that would entertain him till the Christmas season would be great.
Jack's request was just a simple break-in to the halls and cause a bit of chaos. Comet was directly and explicitly told not to try and get in the workshop.
At first Jack was tempted to use Comet as a way to get in the room he'd been seeking since finding the pole, but in the end decided he had a better, more fun way to get in there. It would just have to wait for a later day.
Anyways, with Comet out in the halls, Phil, as the head yeti at the North Pole, would definitely be one of the yetis trying to get everything under control.
It worked perfectly. Jack even hid away in the halls and made sure that no real damage was done. The worst thing that came out of that event were a few worried yetis and maybe some elves who were overly pleased with playing tag with the reindeer.
Hyped up elves were almost as bad as wild reindeer when running around the workshop. Jack made a mental note not to put a real rampaging reindeer in the Pole when the elves were already going wild. That might just bring down the whole building...
With Comet, Jack helped keep most of it in the halls somewhat close to the stables. He didn't want to make Phil's job too hard for the big guy.
As Jack had watched the scene between the elves and Comet, he wondered why the elves don't help out more with the reindeer. The creatures love those little guys! Comet seemed to have quite a bit of fun trying to catch them, and they seemed to enjoy it even more. Jack had been tempted to place some ice or snow in their paths, to make their game more interesting... In the end, though, Phil would have realized that Jack had something to do with the released reindeer, and his whole plan would have been ruined.
By the end of the whole event, which took far longer to calm Comet down then Jack originally thought. He must be the most excited reindeer they have... or the elves had given him one of their cookies. (Never take any of the elves' cookies, it could be the last thing you do... anything could happen with those things.) Phil finally ended up in the stables. After they got the whole event settle, Phil had turned to go. His mind was a bit too preoccupied to be thinking about Jack and their long over due race, so of course he wasn't watching where he stepped, so of course, he didn't noticed that little patch of ice that Jack had cleverly placed on the ground when Jack saw that everything was cleared up. When his foot made contact with it, though, Phil soon found himself flailing and thrashing down one of North's tunnels once more.
Jack had decided that he wanted to try a different one than the one they had gone through last time. What fun came from doing the same track twice? Plus... now Phil couldn't use that stupid short cut that Jack still hadn't found. I mean, how hard was it to find a tunnel that a yeti could fit through?! When Phil entered it, it must have been a tight fit, or something, or maybe in the time gap between when Phil used it and when Jack looked for it, it some how got blocked...
After Phil had started down the tunnel, Jack gleefully followed. The yeti had yet to balance himself, and Jack decided to watch for a bit. He had briefly wondered what it would be like if Phil had Jack's own skills...
That had gotten a chuckle from Jack. Man, would it be weird seeing Phil sliding and skating down one of these tunnels with the grace of an experienced master. Weaving in and out of obstacles, and doing all these fancy tricks.
A mental image of Phil doing a beautifully executed jump and then landing with ease came to Jack. Okay, yeah, that thought would have made him kneel over in laughter, had it not been for the fact that he had been in the middle of sliding down a tunnel.
The two of them had slid for a bit, not technically racing since Phil was yelling at Jack and trying to get his paws on him, while Jack was cheerfully sliding away, but anyways... It had been fine for the first while, but Jack had wanted an actual race, something that would be challenging. He decided to let Phil get ahead, maybe bringing out that fun guy he had raced with last time. Jack had lost sight of the yeti at the first bend, and that was when the trouble started.
It had only been for a moment... yet that was all that was needed. Phil hadn't gotten oriented yet, he didn't have any control. Jack had still been leading him with his icy paths. All Jack heard was Phil's outburst of pain, and when he did he felt frozen. What had happened in that one moment that could make the yeti let out a scream like that?
Jack had quickly flew towards Phil and saw he was collapsed on the ground, ice was scattered around him as he clutched his leg in pain. Phil had ran into a fragile stalagmite, or was it a stalactite? Jack couldn't remember which was which but didn't find it important right now. The ice had instantly shatter and been flung every where. One of the larger chunks must have hit Phil, because Jack could see his fur beginning to darken and get a bit sticky with blood.
His first instinct was to find someone to help them, but there was no one around. His second one was a lot more helpful. He started basic first aid.
Jack had never really done it for real. Sure, he'd learned a bit, but he never had the opportunity to try it out on others. What, with being invisible and all... Phil was willing to help the winter spirit through though. Jack appreciated the help, he didn't want to go making the injury worse.
After Jack had done a bit, he decided now was a good time to get some else, maybe someone who knew how to take care of this better then Jack did.
North was his first thought, and after a quick "be right back" to Phil, Jack was off, speeding up the tunnels and back towards the workshop. He easily weaved through the halls and soon found himself in front of North's study door.
It was locked.
He yelled till his voice was sore, and he pounded on the tough red wood door till his fists hurt, but not a single sound came from the other side. He growled in frustration at the rotten timing of North's absence. It seemed like the big man was always in here working on some new toy or another, yet the one time he was needed, the Russian was nowhere to be found. He vented out his anger on the walls and door that surrounded him.
Ice completely covered it and spread to the walls, even across to the other side. Jack took a deep breath and regretted his actions immediately after. He knew that when Phil recovered, or even just got back up here... He would not like to see this mess.
With a simple wave of his staff, he weakened the ice enough for it to melt as quickly as possible. Being a Spirit of Winter, it was a bit difficult for him to fully get rid of the ice, but this was the best he could do.
Jack let out a large sigh, and twirled his staff around, debating on whether he should wait, or just find other help. He decided it best to get back to Phil as soon as possible. He then set out to find some other yetis that would be willing to help him.
He flew off speedily towards where he knew he would find some. He may have passed a few, but they seemed like they were in a hurry. Jack needed one who would listen to him right then.
It was easy enough to find some. There were always at least two or three hanging around outside a workshop door, especially when they knew Jack was near. When he had landed in front of them, they immediately took a defensive position. Jack would have laughed, if he hadn't been in a hurry for some help for Phil. Instead, Jack took a step towards them and tried to start explaining what had happened.
Before Jack could get a word in, one of the yetis ran off to get Phil, because he was the only one who really took care of Jack when he came to break-in. The other two looked at him sternly and garbled about how they weren't in the mood for his games today. They had just been through a wild reindeer outbreak, and were still recovering.
"Oh, come on!" Jack yelled at the two of them. "Comet wasn't acting wild! Nothing was damaged either!"
The two yetis' eyes widened for a moment, than they glared daggers at Jack as they realized he had played some part in their misfortune earlier that day.
Okay, not the best thing say, but Phil still needed to get some help that wasn't from Jack Frost, so he tried to start again.
This time he was interrupted by three yetis that were charging angrily down the hall at him. They might have been saying something, but with three of them talking at once, Jack didn't understand any of it. He did understand that they were obviously pissed off at him for some reason. The only thing that came to mind was the reindeer thing, and only the yetis in front of him knew he had anything to do with it...
Oh, yeah... North's study door and the hallway might have gotten them pretty upset... Maybe it wasn't his greatest idea to vent out his anger on the North Pole when he was basically surrounded by a bunch of large furry beasts of terror that most of the time didn't enjoy his pranks and games.
But all that didn't matter right now because Phil needed help and They Weren't Paying Attention!
For a third time he tried to get their help, yet all of them ignored his words and instead reached for him to probably throw him out, or something like that.
Jack final had had enough of this. He brought his staff down onto the hard wood floor, growling in anger at the yetis surrounding him. The moment it impacted, frost spewed forth from it, along with a burst of wind that pushed the yetis back.
"Would you listen to me!?" He yelled.
His voice seemed to bounce through the halls as a chilling silence fell over the yetis.
All of them knew Jack liked to play games, but when he was upset or angry he tended to cause more trouble than it was worth. One of them reached for Jack to get him out of the pole before any more damage could be done.
When Jack realized that these guys wouldn't pay him enough attention to get any real help from them, he flew into the air and raced through the hallways, leaving them in his dust.
They yelled after him, calling out in Yetish, but none of them attempted to follow him, at least as far as Jack could tell. They were probably going off to prepare for a big old blizzard to hit them, or something like that...
As Jack passed more doors and hallways, he decided that maybe he should just head back to Phil... Maybe he could help him back up here himself?
Jack grimaced at that thought. Yetis were pretty big, and with an injured leg... Phil would be leaning heavily on Jack for help.
He just sighed and realized that that was probably the way it would end up, so he might as well get it over with now.
:::
So.. here he was, trying to help Phil the best he could, but there was only so much he knew how to do. A suggestion came to mind and Jack decided it was better then sitting around and waiting for something to happen.
"Hey, Uh... Phil?" Jack said, stepping closer towards the yeti.
A sleepy eye opened and Jack heard a noise that might have been a greeting.
"You..doing okay?"
Phil shrugged, and began shifting into a different position. though he was careful not to move his leg.
Jack watched for a moment before voicing his newest idea.
"Want me to try and splint it?" He asked, while he silently prayed that he could do it right.
Phil eyed the winter spirit cautiously. Did he know how to do a proper splint? He looked at Jack and saw his eyes filled with guilt, and hope. Phil smiled inwardly at the boy. He was trying so hard to help. and the yeti knew this was something Jack never wanted to happen. He decided to trust Jack on this and let him give it a shot.
Jack jumped into action, quickly creating two different icicle rods, study but thin. Phil was about to comment, but Jack looked extremely focused on his task, and Phil decided to let him have a go at it without any help. If he saw Jack doing it wrong he could always correct him. Jack's face scrunched up as he searched his memories for anything that could help.
At one point, Jack seemed to hesitate.
Phil gave a growl of concern, asking what was wrong.
"Do you need something in between your leg and the split, or is your fur thick enough for a padding?"
Phil's eyes widened at the question. That... was an excellent question, one that Phil wasn't sure how to answer, after all, he hadn't had a serious injury in centuries.
He decided that padding would be a good idea. Better to be safe than sorry. When he told Jack this, he could have sworn the kid's shoulders drooped a bit.
"Alright, lets do this." He said, though it sounded more like he was talking to himself rather than Phil.
Jack quickly removed his hoodie, revealing underneath a light grey T-shirt. Phil's first thought was that that hoodie really went well with Jack, and without it, it seemed like there was something missing...
With the jacket in one hand, Jack formed an icy blade in the other.
Phil's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen.
In one swift motion, Jack tore through the fabric, slicing it in two. Phil let out a cry of shock at what he just saw. Jack loved his hoodie and Phil was amazed he did that with only the slightest hesitation. He had seen Jack flinch after ripping it, but right after he had begun to work on finishing up the splints.
When Jack finished placing them on, he was just about to help the yeti to his feet when another brilliant idea hit him.
"Wouldn't it be easier to go down the rest of the tunnel and go through one of the lower entrances then to try and climb back up?" Jack asked, already forming a place for Phil to sit so Jack could lead him using his ice.
Phil sighed and nodded his head. He had momentarily forgotten that Jack, being such a small boy, would have a difficult time trying to help Phil, even without having to go up hill.
The yeti shifted and got onto Jack's creation, and with a simple push, he found himself on his way down, Jack flew on the side of him, leading with his staff held in front.
Their speed was not exactly slow, but it wasn't the fastest they could go either. Jack must be taking care not to injure Phil's leg any more.
The yeti turned and saw Jack staring straight ahead, while he unconsciously rubbed his arms.
Jack turned and realized Phil was looking at him. He looked at his arms and then back at Phil.
"Its weird not having my my arms covered." He smirked.
Phil realized that was, while not the whole truth, at least part of it.
Before Jack had gotten the hoodie, he had worn a lighter grey shirt, with a light brown jacket. Some time before that, when he had first awoken, it was his brown cloak, and white long sleeve shirt. His arms have always been covered in the past.
But Phil knew that the hoodie had meant more to Jack. It was Phil's first present to him.
:::
When they reached the end of the tunnel, Jack helped Phil stand up so they could get inside. It was an exhausting experience for both of them. Jack was almost crushed twice when Phil lost his footing.
When the yeti was finally on his feet, Jack made two crutches out of ice. They both winched when Phil first put his weight on them. When the icy creations held, they both released a breath, and gave each other a nervous smile.
"Sorry about this, Phil" Jack mumbled as the walked towards the entrance of the Pole. He had been a bit quite while they walked, so his sudden voice startled the yeti.
It took a moment for Phil to realize exactly what Jack was apologizing for, but when he figured it out he just shrugged it away. It was fine, and he hadn't meant it too happen. The yeti did give a look to Jack telling him that it wouldn't happen again, right?
Jack let out a laugh and Phil saw a glint return to the boy's eyes. "Which part? Me slipping you with ice to cunningly force you to have some fun? or the whole injury thing?" He made a wild gesture to Phil's leg then quickly continued. " 'cause if it's the former, then I can't make any promises."
Phil just rolled his eyes at that statement. At least Jack seemed back to his fun self.
"We will have to do this again though... because we still haven't decided who the winner is of the tunnel racing." Jack mused.
Now it was Phil's turn to laugh. He shook his head, saying that he would admit to cheating in the first race if Jack wouldn't try to force Phil down the tunnels again.
Jack looked slowly over at the yeti as his grin grew wider. "So... how about when you choose to go down them?"
Phil's only response was a look he gave to Jack. What he was trying to say was 'There might be a small chance that I'll think about going down there, if I ever have free time that is, which is never, not when you're always coming by and making trouble for me...'
Jack, or course took that face as to meaning 'Of course I'd go again, it was quite enjoyable and I loved hanging out with you. You're just awesome like that, and there is nothing I'd rather do. So ya, we'll do it next week!'.
They shared their thoughts with each other, and then joined in laughter.
They reached a lower entrance, and Jack stepped ahead. Holding the door open for Phil as he limped in, Jack looked down the hall and saw two yetis chatting as they walked.
He called out to them, bringing their attention to Phil.
Jack only had an instant before they came rushing at him. He leaped out of the way and collided with the wall with a small 'umpf'.
As Jack watched the two help Phil move towards an empty room, he let out a whistle at how fast they were moving. Then again, they were the same size as Phil and there were two of them to help him.
He followed behind, listening to the two yetis question Phil on what happened. Jack only half listened. his mind was drifting, not really focused on any one particular thing until it came to Phil. He thought back to all the times Phil helped him and played games with him. All those times were they just hung out. After this latest incident he hoped Phil wouldn't be too mad or disappointed in Jack. He didn't want to disappoint his big friend, and if he did...
Jack slowed to a stop, and thought back to all the different things Phil has done for him, and with him. Playing games, even when he had a job to do, hanging out with Jack and just being there. With a small smile he reached back to draw his hood up. When his hands were met with nothing, startled, he remembered that he ripped his hoodie.
...
Jack sighed and ran a hand through his white hair. Ever since he got that hoodie, he had loved it. Jack, having no idea that he was echoing Phil's thoughts from earlier that day, realized that, without his jacket something was missing...
Jack had tried, on many occasions, to come up with a way to show his appreciation for Phil, but everything that came to mind always sounded like it wouldn't be good or it just didn't seem to fit.
He looked up from his thoughts and caught sight of some of the yetis he had run into earlier. He quickly glanced around, searching for a place to hide
Shoot, they saw me... oh man, they're coming closer... should I run?
I didn't do anything wrong though, not that they think that...
Okay, okay, think.. There are three of them and one of you.
Plan?
Run!
Too late for that...
Eek don't get mad!
One of the yetis placed a hand on Jack's shoulder and ignoring the flinch that came from the boy, growled out an apology.
Apology...?
The other two stood by and did the same. They looked pretty sincere too.
The first one began to explain how they found out about Phil and what had happened, and they should have listened to Jack in the first place, and gotten Phil help sooner.
The two that had gotten mad at Comet's break-in... well, one of them had gotten kicked by the reindeer, and got a big bruise, so he had already been in a foul mood.
Jack thought back and couldn't recall anytime that Comet had hit a yeti-
Oh! There were a few minuets where Jack to go catch some elves who had gotten the idea to free some more reindeer. (That would have really caused some damage. )It must have happened in that short window when he was away.
The other two who had seen North's study were also sorry. They had been told by North to keep his hall way clear, because he was bringing in something special. (No matter how much prodding Jack did, they didn't spill what it was...) When they saw all that ice there they got really worried, but they appreciated that Jack had made it so it melted quickly.
Jack quickly forgave them since everything worked out in the end. He was glad that this all got sorted out, and that... in the end, no one blamed him or was really mad. Ha! That was probably the best part of this whole day, besides getting that metal image of Phil as a figure skater... yeah... that would stay with him for awhile.
:::
A couple days later, and Jack found Phil walking around doing his job as usual. The only difference was the appearance of crutches used to help his leg heal faster.
"Question.." Jack said as Phil took a break. He needed more then his usual amount to keep his leg from getting more injured. They were both sitting on the floor. Phil had been offered a chair, but he had decided to join Jack on the floor.
Phil grunted and turned towards Jack, giving his attention to the boy. He blinked as the unfamiliar sight of Jack without his hoodie came to him. He hadn't gotten it replaced yet. Hmmm...
"What did you tell North?"
Jack had learned awhile ago that the Russian had no clue about his break-ins. Phil had not told him of any of the attempts Jack had made or of his games that he played with the yetis. None of them had.
Once, he asked why it hadn't been brought to North, and Phil's only response was that he wanted to 'keep it going'.. What ever that was supposed to mean. Phil never expounded on it, and Jack wasn't even sure if he heard it right.
Any other time he asked that question, Phil either didn't answer it, or gave some silly excuse like, 'it never comes to mind when I'm talking with him,' or something along those lines.
There was one time where Phil told Jack that he didn't want to bother North with the little events that went on around the workshop.
Jack had taken that meaning that he wasn't important and North couldn't be bothered with him.
...
Phil didn't see Jack for 8 months.
That was over with and done, and they both got it figured out, but now Jack was curious as to what Phil told the big man about his injury.
Phil just shrugged and said that he told North the truth. He slipped down one of the tunnels and had a nasty collision with some ice. No serious damage done, and the yeti could still continue his work.
Jack stared at Phil for a moment before laughing. Even after this, North still didn't know about him?
Phil watched as Jack laughed, and then placed a furry paw on the boys head, ruffling his white hair. He garbled out something to Jack, telling him to stay put while he stood up to leave.
Jack looked questioningly at the yeti, but stayed seated as the big guy lumbered away.
:::
It took a few minutes for Phil to return, during which time Jack filled by making various elf statues to entertain the little guys that came to visit him. They always enjoyed watching him form ice. It was fun to watch himself, but he found his frost patterns more beautiful and mesmerizing than just plain old ice. He'd had to try to combine the two of them.
When the yeti finally got back, he held something behind his back.
Jack had an inkling as to what it could be, and that thought lit up his eyes. He quickly stood up and smiled as Phil brought it out.
There it was.
His blue hoodie.
It was probably a different one then before, but it looked just the same, and Jack got it the same way as his first one. He took it as it was offered, and hugged it for a moment, feeling the soft cloth brush against his skin.
He'd forgotten how much he loved the feel of the fabric.
He quickly put it on, and just as before, he found frost had spread itself across the neck line, sleeves, and hood.
With a smirk, Jack gave his staff a twirl, and Phil soon found the boy surrounded by light snowflakes and bits of blue and silver lights. The lights, along with the wind, whirled around Jack as he did a quick pose for the yeti.
Phil gave a reluctant clap at the performance Jack had put on.
It was interrupted as Jack gave a hug to Phil.
"Thanks."
Phil was about to reply, when a yeti came and mentioned that there was still work to be done.
Phil sighed and gave a response to the yeti, telling him he'd be there in a moment. Next, he reluctantly turned towards Jack to tell him goodbye only to find the boy imitating his movements. Imitating and exaggerating them quite a bit actually...
He was not amused.
:::
Lets just say that the next thing Jack saw was the snow covered ground hitting his face as he was thrown out of the building.
A/N: So, thats the end of that chapter. This was a good one. I liked it, though it totally got away from me somewhere in the middle. I had no idea how this one would end up, but I'm pleased with the results. Hope you guys all enjoyed it as well. Thanks for all past reviews and I hope to get more.
