Recommended listening for this chapter:

4) Theme for the Trio:

The Glitch Mob - We Can Make the World Stop

"We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls."
― Anaïs Nin

Jack was really regretting his commitment to walking now. As eerily beautiful as this world was; and it was lovely in a stark, harsh way, Jack's back was still sore, and his feet had begun to bleed shortly after arriving. He was unused to walking so far without being able to escape to the air to take a break, and despite three hundred years of walking barefoot, he was usually doing so on the softness of new-fallen snow or the smoothness of ice. Here the rocks were jagged and unforgiving, and it had quickly taken its toll. Before long, every step he'd taken had become excruciating, and he knew without even having to look that he was leaving a very obvious trail of bloody footsteps. He's stopped when he'd realized it, and torn the sleeves off of his hoodie, using them to bind his feet in an attempt to staunch the flow of blood, hoping to stop the inadvertent Hansel and Gretel effect, if nothing else. It seemed to have helped, although it had done nothing for the pain, and left Jack feeling oddly naked with his bare arms on display. Jack didn't let it faze him any more then he'd let the lingering pain is his back do so; his purpose was too important to waste time dithering over flesh wounds, and really, anything less than a missing limb he could probably deal with. Heck, as long as the limb wasn't that important, he could probably work with that too, if he had too. Bunny was worth far more than a hand or a foot anyways.

It had been and estimated four days by his count that he and Baby had been stuck in this new worldscape, with no hint of either friend or foe. Again, Jack was reduced to estimating the time passed base on his rather unreliable internal clock, because this world, like the forest before, seemed stuck at a permanent dawn, the sun forever frozen on the verge of coming up over the horizon. It could have been worse, though. The rocks held the perpetual coolness of stone chilled by night breezes and not yet warmed by the heat of the sun, so Jack was mostly comfortable. It was a little chillier than Baby preferred, as the woods had been, but when she felt overwhelmed she simply wrapped herself in the excess fabric of the cloak on Jack's shoulders. He didn't mind her small weight against him; in fact he found it rather comforting. In some ways, Baby had been is first friend; sticking with him in the arctic and helping him discover his lost memories. While he'd been terrified for her safety when she's insisted on coming with him, Jack knew he never would have survived the spider without her. She was also a balm to the solitude Jack felt, out here in the hostile wilderness. Without her he might've been reduced to talking nonsense to himself to fill the silence, the way he had before he'd been made a Guardian and found himself with an abundance of friends. Of course, as fabulous as Baby was, she was not Bunny, and never could be. No, Jack's friendship with Bunny was different, both more intense and deeply personal in ways Jack wasn't sure he could properly articulate if asked too. Bunny was something special, both as a person and to Jack, and the frost spirit could only be grateful to Baby for understanding and neither being jealous nor spiteful of that fact. Baby snuggled deeper into the folds of fabric at Jack's left shoulder, wrapped so tight that he wasn't sure how she was still breathing. Jack was happy that he could do this for her at least, to offer this little bit of comfort to her after he'd dragged her out of her home and away from all her sisters. He only hoped he was strong enough, brave enough, and clever enough to see her home again. It was strange though, every time the little fairy snuggled against him, she seemed to weigh just a little bit more. Jack hadn't noticed at first, the changes so minute, but now he was certain that she was taking up a bit more space against his neck when she curled there then she used to. Presented with this evidence, Jack had the sneaking suspicion that she was growing, and it conjured the uneasy feeling that this place and the energies found here were likely the cause. It made something hot and sick squirm beneath Jack's skin as he found himself wondering what changes this world could possibly be making on him, too. What would he do, if he found his way back to Bunny, but he wasn't the Jack that Bunny remembered anymore? Jack wanted to think that his friend would remain so despite any changes, but years of isolation and rejection still whispered in his blood, telling him not to hold his breath, that guys like him didn't get so lucky a second time.

Even lost in his thoughts as he was, it didn't distract him fully from the task at hand. Jack and Baby were still on high alert, the days of quiet not allowing them to fully relax. If anything it had them even more on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The spider couldn't have been the only creature lurking about, waiting for what looked like easy prey. No, there was something out there, definitely, Jack could feel it. One glace at Baby told him that she too seemed to feel the invisible eyes upon them. With a quick nod, the little fairy took back to the skies, looking to gain a bird's eye view of their surroundings to spot their unseen watcher. Jack moved to put his back to edge of the canyon they'd been traversing, ducking behind a man-sized boulder. He proceeded slowly, trying to be as inconspicuous and silent as possible. Suddenly, Baby trilled above him, signalling that she's found the creature following them, and the location. Jack was off like a shot, letting the wind carry him over and around the rocks in his way, heading as fast as possible in the direction Baby had indicated. He arrived just in time to see the figure's shadow disappear into a narrow opening between two rocks. Unwilling to waste time, Jack went clear over them, as opposed to trying to fit his slim frame into the even slimmer opening. He come over the rocks just in time to see the figure, whatever it was, dart off into another, even smaller crack. Jack took the same route over, only to have his prey evade him once again. Letting out an uncharacteristic curse, Jack whipped around the next set of rocks at top speed, hoping to catch up to the creature. Whatever it was, it couldn't be all that big if it had fit into that narrow... little...

Oh, hello there. Totally not what he'd been expecting, at all.

Having leapt the boulders in his way, Jack had startled the small being as he was slipping free from a break between rocks. Jack had swiftly landed behind him, cutting off his escape and pinning the creature into a dead end. Baby had then appeared in the only other way out, squeaking in a way that was more threatening than you'd imagine something to small and colourful could be. The being had slumped a bit, shoulders curled and head bowed, knowing it was caught. It had then turned around, feet shuffling in the dirt and looking for all the world like it was about to face its executioners. Which Jack supposed, maybe it thought it was, considering the little guy wasn't quite twice the size of Baby and didn't look like much of a fighter despite being made entirely of rock. The being looked vaguely like a preschool kid had tried to make a snowman out of small stones. The arms and legs were each three little rocks stuck together, the body the biggest rock of all at about the size of Jack's fist. The head was a lighter colour; more white than the middle-grey colour of the rest of it. The head rock was also oddly lumpy, like a potato, with two small, beady black eyes, and no discernible nose of mouth. Jack blinked, utterly charmed by the little rock-man, who had now raised his hands in the universal 'I mean you no harm' gesture. The creature appeared to be trembling, stone knees knocking together with little clicking noises, eyes pleading with both of them, and Jack just didn't have it in him to hurt the darn thing, not when it didn't even come up to his knee!

"Baby... are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Baby chirped a series of noises which Jack interpreted as 'yes, he's adorable, and doesn't appear to be harmful, and can we keep him?' Jack laughed a bit, knowing that Baby had pretty much read his mind. Getting down onto his hands and knees, Jack carefully crept closer to the little thing, pausing every time the creature flinched and huddling in on itself. It took a few tries to get close enough, Jack having to back off every time the shaking got so bad the poor thing was chattering away like a party noisemaker. It took a good, solid dozen tries to finally coax the little guy into Jack's hands. The little thing was bigger than Baby, requiring two hands to hold, and much heavier obviously being made of rock, but he was as smooth and cool as Jack expected. The small limbs made slight scraping noises with every movement, as the rocks that comprised them rubbed together, although Jack couldn't see anything holding them in place save magic. He grinned at the little guy, probably showing way too much teeth to be socially correct, but sue him, he was thrilled. For his part, the creature Jack decided to call the 'Rockling ,' for lack of a better term, merely nodded, head bobbing up and down in a way that Jack took to be friendly.

"Hey there little dude! Can you understand me?" The Rockling paused uncertain, head cocked to the side a bit, before the nodding commenced again. Jack took this to mean that yeah, he did. "Awesome! My name's Jack Frost, I'm a winter elemental. I'm Walking the Road so I can bring my dead friend back." Jack was forced to pause here momentarily as his breath caught oddly in his throat on the last sentence. "And this..." he continued once he'd recovered, gesturing with a shrugged shoulder to Baby who was hovering to his left, "is Baby, she's my buddy in all things marvelous and Quest-like." Baby made a little trill that sounded victorious, zooming in a hasty circle around Jack's head as if to show off her flying prowess. The Rockling cocked his head again, observing, then began nodding a bit more enthusiastically. So, it seemed the little thing couldn't speak, although it obviously communicated otherwise. Jack had suspected as much since it didn't have a mouth, but then again it didn't have ears either and seemed to hear just fine. Jack grinned again, so happy his face could split. How cool was this guy! Living rock and all! "Hey, were you the one that was watching us, then?" The Rockling's nodding increased, which Jack took as a yes. "What, fascinated by the visitors?" Jack teased lightly, hoping that strange little rock-people had senses of humour. The Rockling abruptly stopped nodding, and squirmed, pushing at Jack's hands in a way that told the Guardian he wanted to be let down. Jack frowned, crestfallen, hoping he hadn't offended his new friend, but he placed the Rockling gently on the ground in front of him, anyways. He wasn't about to hold the poor thing hostage if it'd had enough of Jack and his big mouth. The Rockling climbed clumsily from Jack's hands to the ground, using Jack's fingers to help balance himself until he got upright. Jack couldn't' blame him, with a head so large compared to his body, he was probably terribly unbalanced. Once settling firmly onto his feet, the Rockling pushed Jack's hands away. Jack withdrew and stood, expecting the creature to beat a hasty retreat. Instead, the creature toddled forward, until he was right beside Jack's left foot, resting his tiny stone hands on the improvised sleeve-bandages. He patted the knotted fabric twice, gazing meaningfully up at Jack the whole time. It didn't take long for it to click in, and when it did Jack felt an uncontrollable well of joy in his chest.

"You mean... You saw that I was hurt, and followed? Were you trying to make sure I was okay?" The creature began nodding again, quicker than ever before. Jack felt the prickle of happy tears at the corners of his eyes. Sure, he had friends now, but he that didn't mean the compassion of a stranger didn't still move him. He also knew loneliness when he saw it, and this shy, sweet little guy was as lonely as they came. Quickly brushing the forming tears away and ignoring Baby's concerned chirp, he crouched down again to bring himself back to the Rockling's eye level. The little being didn't flinch at all this time, just meeting and holding Jack's gaze with black eyes that couldn't blink. "Did you maybe want to come with us? I mean, I understand if this is your home and you don't want to leave, and honestly, I don't know where we're going other than to see the Oracle, or even if we'll make it, and we'll likely never be back if we do, but if you think you want to..." Jack trailed off, and so did Baby who'd begun chittering in agreement. The Rockling was staring up; nodding so hard that his poor head looked like it might just come flying clean off of his stony shoulders. Helpless against the building smile, Jack scooped the little guy up in to his arms, settling him into the crook of his right elbow at first, until, prompted by the squirming and failed climbing attempts, he nudged his new friend up onto his shoulder. The Rockling immediately settled in, snuggling into the curve of Jack's neck and resting his small head against Jack's ear. Not to be left out, Baby took up position on Jack's other side, and yeah, he wasn't wrong, she was definitely getting bigger. Pushing down a flare of worry at the ramifications of this, Jack gathered his staff and strode on, ready to get to know his new friend.

"So, what's your favorite colour?" Jack was flopped on his stomach, chin propped on his hands, eyeballing Bunny as he carefully painted another egg. It had been nearly a year since the disastrous Easter when Jack and became a Guardian, and he's been steadily settling into his new role and new friendships ever since. Bunny had been the slowest to come around, but considering Jack hadn't made it easy for him, he was surprised he'd come around at all. Since that first day though, they'd made leaps and bound in getting to know eachother. "I mean, you paint using ever colour ever, but you must have a favorite. What is it, red like the roses you grow? Yellow, like sunlight?" Jack grinned playfully, rolling over until he was on his back, head tipped so he could still watch the other Guardian work. "Come on Bunny, throw a dude a bone over here." Bunny snorted in amusement at Jack's antics, and the frost spirit as thrilled, knowing that just a few short months ago Bunny would have been ignoring him, and a few months before that Bunny would have been cursing and chucking him out on his arse for daring to even enter the Warren, much less tease the guy who owned it. This was much preferably to either of those options; this friendly, teasing banter back and forth, the comfortable give and take they were slowly learning to navigate. "Come ooooooon Bunny, please?" Jack offered his very best doe-eyes up for Bunny's enjoyment, knowing the other got a kick out of Jack's pleading.

"Alright, you menace, you really wanna know?" Jack whooped, practically shooting off the ground and flipping over till he was sitting upright on his knees, bouncing with excitement.

"Well duh! So, what is it? What's your favorite colour?" Bunny laughed good-naturedly at Jack's easy joy, his open, youthful face so earnest and eager. When he stopped laughing, he looked at Jack, really, truly looked, making direct eye contact and holding it as he spoke.

"It's blue, mate. Always has been." Jack couldn't fight the growing smile at Bunny's sincerity as their gazes held, nor could he ignore the butterflies that had suddenly taken up residence in his tummy. Jack hadn't told Bunny then, and maybe never would, but he'd always fancied green, himself.

"Annnnd, I spy with my little eye, something that is grey." Against his neck, he could practically feel the force of Baby's eye roll as she chattered her answer, pecking at his ear for good measure. "You're right Baby! It's the Rockling! How'd you guess?" Ok, so eye-spy in a landscape that consisted entirely of stone wasn't his best idea, but the ridiculousness of it had at least kept both Baby and their new friend amused for the last few minutes. At least, he assumed the Rockling was amused; he didn't appear to be shaking and chattering in distress like he had previously, instead he'd cuddled so close to the side of Jack's neck that Jack could feel his cool stone body, nodding almost constantly in response to his and Baby's banter, curled up tight beside his ear. He was glad the little dude was settling in, getting more comfortable. He only hoped the new addition didn't wind up regretting his decision to join them. All in all though, making a new friend was far preferable to being set upon by an oversized ten-legged freak show. Jack wondered idly if sometime with ten legs and a bunny body was still classified as an arachnid, before deciding that he really didn't want to think about it. Suppressing a shudder of disgust, so as not to upset and confuse him companions, Jack also fought back a wince as his next step was onto uneven, jagged rock. He hadn't said anything, and so far the others hadn't noticed, but he'd felt his feet start to bleed again a few minutes ago. He wasn't sure if he'd soaked through the impromptu bandages yet, but looking to check would draw the other's attention to the problem, and he didn't want to worry them. Honestly, Jack was worried enough for the whole trio himself, he didn't need to be dragging the others down too. The truth was though, they'd been days in this new world with no sign of an exit, no other indigenous life forms save the Rockling, and it had Jack on edge. Add to it the raw, bloody feet and the fact that his back was still sore, long after it should have healed, only exacerbated matters. Also, there was the fact that every time Jack blinked it appeared that Baby was still growing. He'd estimate that she was well past double her original size, and likely nearing three times, if he was honest. She didn't appear to have noticed, or if she had she'd been keeping mum, but that scared Jack too, more than he was willing to admit. There was so much about this place that they didn't know, didn't understand, What if something was seriously wrong with her, and Jack had no way of knowing, of helping? He'd never forgive himself if she'd followed him here and then wound up hurt, or worse, dead. Swallowing down a throat suddenly tight with fear, Jack vowed to keep the smile pasted on; whatever it took, he'd take care of his friends, and that meant shouldering the burden of the growing worry and concern, so as not to trouble them. Right now, all they needed to do was stay as they were, happily perched on Jack's shoulders.

"Ouch! Geeze Baby, you don't have to jab me with your beak to get my attention!" Jack rubbed at the top of his ear, knowing he probably had a little red mark from the aforementioned beak. "Keep that up and I'll have no ear left, you little shoulder devil you!" Baby tweeted her laughter, bright and cheerful, and on the other side the Rockling was nodding into his neck again in the way that Jack was positive meant he was happy, if the little spike of joy he felt off him was any indication. "Man, I guess that makes you my shoulder angel." Jack said playfully, gently shrugging the shoulder in question and making the small stone body bounce into his neck. The Rockling steadied itself with his hands, two cool little points of pressure on Jack's neck, and Jack couldn't fight the smile back. Shoulder angels and devils, indeed! "Hey, you know what we should do? We should help you pick a name, little buddy. I can't keep calling you 'dude' and 'little guy' all the time." The Rockling paused for a moment, and then nodded against Jack's ear. Jack was starting to learn that nodding conveyed agreement, or a positive response. The faster the nod, to more excited or sincere the creature was being. A total lack of movement however, was generally negative. Shaking, which resulted in a chattering noise, was obviously fearful, as the earlier display had demonstrated. Hopefully Jack would never see his new friend in that position ever again! "Ok, so, how about Rocky?" Baby groaned into his ear and Jack laughed. He was mostly joking anyways, and totally wasn't surprised by the complete stillness of the Rockling on his shoulder. "No? Man, tough crowd. Okay, how about Bob? Hank? Will? Wait, you're a rock; do you even do the whole male and female thing? Should I be looking for girl names, or unisex even?" The complete stillness on his shoulder told him all he needed to know about the latest string of name suggestions. Until the last question at least, when the creature began nodding, slowly. "Ooookay, was that a yes to the unisex?" Complete stillness from Jack's shoulder. "Ok, girl names?" The stillness continued. "So you are a boy after all, I wasn't being totally ignorant and insulting." The small figure began nodding, rocky body rubbing smoothly against Jack's cheek at the motion. "Awesome! Dude names it is! Have any suggestions, Baby?" Baby chirped a bit, making a couple of suggestions for more exotic male names, which were all systematically shut down by the very still little Rockling. When she gave up, Jack picked it up again. They alternated back and forth, each suggestion getting more and more ridiculous, and still not impressing their friend. Finally Jack gave up, huffing a laugh and grateful at least that the whole exercise had killed a couple hours of time.

"Aw man, tiny guy, I'm almost out of ideas! How about you, Baby?" Baby chattered an agreement from Jack's other shoulder. "Y'know with your habits and all, I should probably just call you Noddwyn or something. I think that's an actual name back home... What do you think Baby, appropriate?" Baby tittered a happy laugh, agreeing. Jack had meant to have a friendly tease of their stony buddy, but was utterly surprised when the careful, hesitant nodding began. "Wait, you mean... You actually like it?" The nodding increased, faster and faster till the small body was almost vibrating against Jack's neck, the swiftly moving rocks grinding together making a noise not entirely unlike a cat purring. Grinning like a madman, Jack felt himself nod along. "Alright then, Noddwyn it is!" Baby chirruped happily as Jack raised one finger, slowly stroking down along the back of his newly christened friend's head. Noddwyn pushed back into the affectionate gesture, continuing his low, rumbling purr. For a moment, Jack was able to forget everything, forget Bunny's loss, forget his physical pain, forget where they were and the danger they were in. Everything narrowed to this; the intrepid trio, smiling and laughing in the pale light of dawn.

Jack had only a second to process the flash of movement out of the corner of his eye before something large and incredibly heavy slammed into him, throwing him head over tail clear across a stand of rocks twice his height. He hurtles into the ground at breakneck speed, immediately greying out from the wracking agony. His back is alight with it, his ribs feel almost mushy along one side, his head is throbbing in time with his heartbeat from hitting the ground, and forget his feet Jack is now bleeding sluggishly from half a dozen scrapes all over. He realizes vaguely after a moment that the pathetic keening noise he can hear is himself; struggling to draw air into lungs that might very well be punctured. He pants for a second, trying to breathe through the pain with only a modicum of success, considering his current troubles breathing, period. In the middle distance he can hear more deafening crashes, each one shaking the ground beneath him. Above it all, he can hear a high-pitched, panicked cheeping, and a chattering sound so quick it's slowly becoming a hum. It takes him a couple long moments, woozy as he is, to place the sounds, but when he does it makes Jack's already chilly blood turn icy in his veins.

Jack's friends are in trouble.

Jack's friends are in trouble, facing down an unknown enemy, and he's flopping about uselessly on the ground like a fish on dry land. Steeling himself, Jack turns his head slowly, left and right, ignoring the way the world swims sickeningly before his eyes at the motion. There, to the right, his staff, mercifully unbroken. Jack stretches out his right arm, gritting his teeth against a fresh wave of misery. Then he stares bewildered as his hand falls two feet short. Behind him, out of sight, another great crash rocks the earth, and Baby's frantic twittering increases. Jack's completely lost track of Noddwyn's scared chatter in his distraction. Unacceptable. Jack clenches his jaw against the protests of his aching body and raises his other hand to his devastated ribcage. Dammit, the thing was practically shattered; it felt almost like jelly under his hands. Ignoring the knife-like sensation shooting through his torso, Jack held the hand firm, reaching inside him for the trickle of power that was always there. Put his staff in his hand and the trickle became a deluge, but for now this would have to do. It takes a couple tries, wasting precious time, but Jack is eventually able to ice the ribs steady enough to move without further damaging himself. Gasping, Jack finds it easier to breathe, which means he did in fact have a punctured lung, one which was now sealed by the ice. Actually getting oxygen helps a lot, as does the fact that with his ribs immobilized, the raw edges aren't rubbing so much and sending bright sparks of sensations though his limbs. It's not much of an improvement, but it's enough to get him rolled onto his stomach and army-crawling toward his staff. He kicks at the ground with his shredded feet, and hauls himself forward with weakened arms, until finally his staff is in grabbing range. The moment his fingers close over the familiar wood, Jack strengthens the ice along his ribs, also using it to patch the bloody gash in his scalp. He makes it to his feet only with the help of the wind, which, while not the wind he's used to has certainly seemed friendly enough. It takes a minute for the world to stop reeling, a minute Baby and Noddwyn don't have, but then Jack is airborne, sailing toward the sound of battle, which had steadily been moving away from him.

Jack's vision is fuzzy around the edges, but he finds them easily enough. Baby is playing a deadly game of tag with a creature that, unsurprisingly, looks like Noddwyn's big, bad, ugly cousin. The rock creature is huge; about the the size of Jaime's house back on earth if Jack were to guess. Three main rocks make the body, the topmost one being slightly smaller. Four powerful limbs made of magically interconnected rocks flail about, swinging madly at a darting, weaving mini fairy. The arms of the thing were quick, but nowhere near a match for Baby, and she ducks and dodges and taunts him, leading him away from where Jack had fallen. Her attempts at attacking however are ineffective; for all its animation, the creature is still made of solid stone and just as impervious; with a quartet of beady black eyes glaring hatefully at what is essentially a tiny colourful nuisance. On the ground behind the creature, Jack sees a flash of grey and suddenly there's Noddwyn. The Rockling is catching any pebble he can find between the two rocks that serve as his hands, and chucking them full-force at the attacking behemoth. To his credit he's got a pretty fantastic arm for a little thing, but the fact of the matter is that he's David throwing pebbles at Goliath; only this time there doesn't appear to be a convenient weak point to exploit. No miracle victory, just two friends hopelessly outmatched, trying desperately to protect Jack the only way they could; by distracting their enemy and keeping it away from him. Jack has a moment of blind, heart-stopping love for his precious ones, and then he thinks of another, of one he'd cherished even more. If Jack fails here, Bunny stays lost, forever.

Failure is not an option.

"Checkmate." Jack frowns at Bunny's words, glaring down at the board like it had personally ruined his day.

"Again? How could you win again?" Jack rests his chin on his folded arms, pouting childishly at the white and black figures scattered across the board. "This game sucks. Or maybe, I just suck at it."

"This game 'sucks,'" Bunny said in such a way that Jack could totally hear the air quotes, "because you're failing to do the most important thing." Jack lifted his head to direct his scowl at the new object of his ire.

"And what's that, oh wise guru of all things chess-related?" Bunny sighed in a way that was vaguely put-upon, his standard reaction to Jack when he was deliberately being and irritating brat.

"You're not reading the game, Jack. You need to think ahead; know your enemy, and plot your moves based on how they will react." Jack huffed out a frustrated groan as Bunny began to set the board up for another game. He knew he'd play though, without even entertaining the thought of leaving. Any time spent with Bunny was worth it, even if it meant he was getting pulverised by an imaginary army, repeatedly. Regarding the board, Jack moved one pawn forward, determined to think a little deeper, this time. Let the game begin; come hell or high water Jack would learn what Bunny was trying to teach him.

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."
― Heraclitus