Thank you music artists everywhere for all the lovely background music. :DDD
Anywho, brief brief brief language ahead (just a small warning) plus sad subjects and happy memories. :) Ah I don't want to spoil so shhhh xDD
Enjoy :3
She knew automatically that a scream would begin rising in her throat any second. Anything to convey the horror that she was falling through the air thousands feet above the ground and gaining speed with every passing second. But not to her surprise she couldn't find her voice and the freezing cold atmosphere wasn't helping her communicate either. The lights of the city below her twinkled and glistened in the darkness surrounding it as it rose up at a rate that made its ascent hardly noticeable.
"Waiting for a reaction here." Jack said boringly. Alice quickly jerked her head to her right to see Jack falling alongside her with his back facing the land beneath them and his arms casually crossed against his chest.
"Jack!" She screamed in half anger and half in desperation.
"There we go." He exclaimed with a humorous smile and turned over in the air and stretched his arms out as he closed his eyes against the wind with a satisfied smile.
"I swear Jack if I die I'm going to kill you!" She screamed and flapped her arms in a poor attempt to slow her growing speed. In Jacks eyes it actually looked rather silly.
"Don't you see anything wrong with that threat?" He asked with a laugh. "Don't worry we've got another good two minutes or so until we hit the ground."
"Is that supposed to be comforting?!" She exclaimed and reached out and tried to grab his sleeve.
"Well, maybe one..." In a fluid movement he quickly darted away from her and moved his arms flat against his sides which propelled him down at a faster speed than her. With a flurry of wind he positioned himself about five feet below her and casually turned back to face her.
"Relax Alice, sheesh."
'Relax? RELAX?!' She thought angrily but wasn't able to express her opinions as Jack continued to chatter.
"I thought you said were all about fighting and such. How are you gonna cope if you cant take a little plot twist every now and then? You have to be able and willing to move like the wind." He informed her and held his arms out making the air resistance raise him up a bit. "If you cant push a mountain, you compromise. Either go around it or go over it." Alice felt a little relieved that he had moved below her and she forced herself to control her breathing, which can be difficult when the wind is smacking you in the face at such speeds. It was actually surprising that something so sensible thing was coming out of his mouth. She dared to think it was even wise.
"I never said I wanted to fight." She growled loudly and held her arm out in front of her to shield her eyes from the wind which meant being unable to see where Jack was. "Just in case I had to." Now that she was able to construct whole sentences Alice decided to take a moment to think.
'Okay falling to my death, now what?' A brief consideration of molding wings out of the black sand crossed her mind but her she was quickly filled with doubt that she could actually pull it off much less concentrate that hard without taking up to much time. 'Besides, falling at this speed, if I suddenly decided to sprout wings I would probably wind up ripping my own arms off.' She praised herself for being so logical when two sudden taps on her shoulder made her gasp. She quickly did a full turn in the air and shot an arm out, making a shard of black sand shoot out from her sleeve and slice through the air above her. Sandy easily maneuvered away from the sloppy attack and after a quick "whew" gesture he shook his head in annoyance.
"Whoops...my bad." Alice uttered and hugged her arms tightly across stomach as if punishing herself for thinking there was a psychopathic murderer above her while she was plummeting to the Earth. Her eyes strayed from the golden figure in front of her and she noticed for the first time how huge and bright the silver moon and its twinkling companions were over her head. Falling with her back to the wind was way more comfortable as long as she kept her whipping into her eyes and Alice's tense expression softened as she watched it loom over them with a watchful disposition until the sound of Jacks distant voice over the rushing air pulled her back into reality.
"Yeah, I can see why she might be a bit jittery." Jack yelled up to them in her defense. Sandy rolled his eyes and waved it off before holding a hand down for her.
"Thank you!" She yelled with as much emphasis as possible in hopes Jack could hear her hidden accusation.
"Aw, come on Sandy we aren't even close to the ground yet!" Jack whined as Alice took his hand. As her speed slowed drastically Alice used the support to straighten out so she could face Jack. She then promptly stuck her tongue out in triumph and genuinely laughed for the first time in a very long while. Even though his entertainment was over Jack couldn't help but smile at her pure delight and quickly turned his back to them to hide his smirk. He suddenly had a very evil idea and propelled away, leaving Alice and Sandy behind. The sound of the wind filled the brief silence while they shared a mischievous grin.
"After him!" Alice yelled and the grip on her hand tightened. In an instant their descent stopped and the two shot off after him. Through the wind Alice could barely concentrate on the clouds that rushed by which illuminated their chase by reflecting the soft moonlight. The lights below them whizzed by in a flurry of different colors and Alice felt that this was truly one of the most wonderful things that had ever happened to her. An obnoxious battle cry somewhere in the distance snapped her out of her thoughts and she listened closely to the atmosphere around them. Another one of Jacks loud battle-cry's suddenly erupted somewhere to their side and Alice knew something was happening. After a few seconds of apprehensive silence they came to a complete stop and Alice was left dangling in the air as Sandy scouted the sky and the rolls of clouds around them, not seeming to notice her distressing situation. A glance down wasn't quite as nerve racking as she thought it would be, but it still wasn't a nice feeling.
"Uh...This isn't really to exciting down here." She said nervously as a light breeze that caused her feet to sway slightly and made her head spin. Sandy glanced down at her and a look of realization crossed over him as if he had forgotten that she was there and had suddenly been reminded. With an apologetic face he constructed a smooth golden surfboard under his feet and quickly helped her up onto the back.
"Classy." She said in a tone of approval and gave the golden surface a tap. "Is this thing sturdy?" The last thing she wanted was to fall right through and plummet to her death, not that she didn't trust him to catch her before that. Sandy held a hand up and moved it from side to side in "sort of" gesture.
"Ha,ha, funny." She said sarcastically and the coo of a very realistic bird call that was much too close for comfort silenced them.
"I think he's playing with our sanity." She whispered as she inspected the space around her. He pointed back at her and suddenly a cup sitting on the edge of a small golden table appeared over his head. The cup tipped over and fell off before the golden symbols morphed into a question mark.
"I'm pretty sure the weird bird noise is what tipped me off." Alice retorted in a harsh whispered reply to what she translated as sarcasm. She proudly noticed that she was beginning to understand him without thinking for to long. A very suspicious and sudden burst of wind guided small individual puffs of clouds around them which scattered out in all directions; perfect hiding spots for a mischievous winter spirit. Alice examined his control over the wind and made a mental note to ask him about it later. The amount of mental notes piling up in her head were crazy.
With a smirk she looked back down at Sandy when she heard another bird call and noticed something odd. No that his back was turned to her she noticed in the moonlight a thin hair line mark that was lighter than the rest of him. It traveled from his right shoulder to the middle of his back and oddly reminded her of a scar. For a short moment she contemplated saying something out of curiosity before deciding it would probably be rude. A tense minute of silence past and Alice let her guard down and sat back on the end of the board making it tilt down just a bit on her side which freaked her out at first. Although she had decided to kick back and relax Sandy didn't wasn't quite as naive. With a gleam of curiosity, Alice watched as Sandy cautiously sat down on his end making the golden surf board even out. He sat with his legs crossed and closed in eyes in what looked like meditative stance.
"Um..." Alice started, not sure if she should be talking at the moment. "How are you going to see him if your eyes are closed?" She finished with a whisper. His head twitched to the right as if he had sensed some sort of unknown movement and he raised a finger to his lips without opening his eyes. With her cheeks now in her hands she suppressed a sigh and watched the moon above her. Whatever game Jack was playing it was starting to get boring. Alice could only imagine that Jack had heard her thoughts because in the next second a flash of white whizzed out from a cloud to their left. It happened so fast that the only way Alice could tell something was up was by noticing her silent companions reaction. A smile curled on Sandy's lip as the culprit revealed his position and he moved back slightly as the snowball zipped right past his face, ever so lightly brushing his button nose. The attack happened so fast that Alice was barley able to shield her face when a second snowball emerged from a cloud in front of them and exploded upon impact with her forearm. 'How the hell did he change positions so quickly!?'
"Hey! That's dirty, Jack!" She yelled into her surroundings, not only because she wasn't fond of his cheating but also in hopes of getting a response that would reveal where he was hiding. She unknowingly breathed in a few chilly flakes of snow and suddenly her chest swelled with laughter. In an attempt to hide her delight she hugged her arms around her waist but couldn't help herself as she shook with laughter. It was amazing that in a span of less than ten minutes the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders. It was just what she needed.
A few moments later her laughing died down into giggles and Alice was finally able to get her head back in the game. While she was having her giggle fit Sandy constructed a golden shield as two more snowballs erupted from the air around them and shattered on the golden surface in a flurry of glistening flakes. The attacks stopped for a moment and Alice finally composed herself and carefully stood up on her feet.
"Aw, You don't have to get up for me Alice!" Sandy suddenly threw her an alarmed look and an image of a golden clock which hands where position on three o'clock quickly flashed over his head. Before she could even begin to process the image an abrupt burst of snow impacted her right shoulder, tipping her balance. A step forward caused her foot to slide off and she dropped off the board and frantically reached up and grabbed the edge with both hands.
"Careful! That first steps a doozy!" Jack cackled from behind them as Alice struggled to pulled herself up.
"Seriously Sandy!" Alice growled as he helped her back up onto the board. "Who uses clocks to tell positions?!" The attempt to pull her up was almost in vain since Sandy was hardly able to focus as he shook with his own silent laughter. Another snowball flew out from behind them and made a beeline for the back of Sandy's head. Without looking back he quickly constructed a vine of golden sand behind him. It speedily shot out and eased back slightly as the ice flew into its grasp so it wouldn't burst into a million icy flakes. The golden tendril then quickly threw it back into the cloud it originated from.
'Whoa, close one!" Jack yelled out suddenly and in a blue flash moved into the next cloud. Alice felt a rush of air approaching her right when she was finally safe on the board and quickly planned out her next move, her patience for his jokes wearing especially thin. In the next split second she shot out her hand in a blur of movement and an almost bloodthirsty look in her eyes. She held her hand straight up with her palm facing the rapidly approaching snowball and a smooth black curved surface quickly flowed into shape in front of her hand. The black sand shielded her from the blow and the curved exterior diverted the path of the burst of snow which landed to her side on a very unlucky dream weaver.
"Aaah, look at that. I see the reflexes are kicking in." Jack cooed as a very unamused Sandy shook his head and fresh snow to fell from his golden hair.
Without retorting Alice numbly slashed her hand through the air in the direction of his voice and a long narrow vine of black sand whipped out and detached itself from her. It ripped through the air for a second before tearing through a silver cloud. The cloud buckled inwards and quickly began to scatter in all directions, eventually revealing an empty core.
"Close but no cigar!" He yelled tauntingly from the other side and she instantly threw another attack towards the cloud. Sandy rose up next to her and considered intervening but was suddenly met with indecision when he had to duck to avoid one of her attacks.
"Your starting to tick me off, Jack." She growled as she slashed her hand out blindly behind her when he made another weird bird call.
"Your attacks are getting sloppy and uncontrollable." Jack continued taunting from another angle and Alice was barely able to realize what he was doing. She threw yet another outburst into a cloud which also revealed itself to be empty.
"If you don't stop using your tunnel vision your going to hurt someone other than your target." The number of small clouds around them were wearing thin and Alice finally stopped to take his words in. After a brief thought she realized how frightening his statement was and slowly lowered her arms.
'Note to self: More self control.'
Alice glanced down at Sandy who was sitting with with his legs crossed and a cheek in his hand, along a boringly patient look in his eyes as if he had tiredly foreseen her actions.
"Right, sorry." She muttered and hoped they wouldn't pry to much on the subject. "Guess I got carried away..." Sandy studied her for a second and gave her a brief nod before pointing down at the board. Alice wrongly assumed he was telling her to keep her balance and gazed around her before realizing there was only one solid cloud remaining. It slowly drifted by about fifteen feet away and it was just big enough to hide a person.
"Ha! No where else to hide Jack!" She said and Sandy rolled his eyes while she concluded that the silence that followed surely meant imminent defeat. "Will you do the honors?" Sandy frowned and raised his eyebrows in an "if-you-say-so" look. Without standing up he lashed out his golden whip and sliced through it once and with another flick of his wrist the whip cracked through it a second time making it scatter in a matter of seconds into a thin haze.
"But-That's impossible!" Alice stuttered as she stared stared at the empty air. "It was the last cloud!" The surface beneath her feet suddenly jerked and tilted and she found herself doing a full 180 flip in the air as the board turned. Sandy boringly reached down and grabbed her wrist, still sitting in the same position on the with his cheek in his hand as the board capsized and came to a stop upside down. Jacks head peeked over the edge and he smirked down at the Sandman and the dangling girl.
"So...would that be a draw then? I was really the only one that threw some legit hits so it's only fair that I win." He asked. Meanwhile, as the two began to bicker, Sandy's eyes slowly began to shut and his head slumped forward just a bit. He adjusted his cheek back on his hand when it slid off and finally dozed off into a very welcomed warm dream.
"You cheated." Alice muttered. Even though she was trying her hardest to sound irritated, a very loud yawn eventually broke through and Alice knew she wouldn't be taken seriously after that. In fact Jack would be making some kind of sarcastic remark about it now.
"Again, not really the most expected reaction. But you must be tired after losing and all."
"Okay Jack you win, sheesh. Happy now?" Alice said, trying to figure out where his sudden competitive spirit had come from. A golden grain flittered past her field of vision and she realized the suddenly lethargic feel in her eyes was the golden sand that was gently falling off the board.
"Awesome. Yo Sandman!" Sandy, who was still holding Alice by the hand while sleeping upside down on a golden surf board, awoke with a start, nearly dropping her in the process. With a yawn he raised her up effortlessly as he slowly willed the surf board to turn back over. Her nerves finally calmed when she was sitting still on the firm surface, right side up. A golden house and a question mark flashed over his head as the golden man stood up.
"Yea, I think she's had enough for one night." Jack confirmed and casually stepped off the edge. Alice didn't object as he free fell for a few moments before a stream of wind carried him in the opposite direction. The nose of the surf board lifted up slightly in the process of doing an about face and Alice gripped the sides to keep herself from falling off the back. Her grip didn't loosen one bit when the board suddenly dived after him, swaying slightly from side to side as it smoothly rode over the wind. The ride was smooth actually pretty soothing with hardly any drastic turns for another ten minutes as the winter spirit led the way many meters in front of them. Alice appreciated the serene view of the stars over her head and Sandy glanced back and smiled to see her looking up at the dazzling heavens in awe. Eventually As they descended lower and lower Alice began to recognize the dimly lit streets below them and knew her house would be approaching any second.
"There it is!" She yelled in excitement. Seeing the roof of her house from this kind of perspective was certainly exciting. In fact she couldn't think of a time she had seen anything from this perspective. The roof of her house drew closer and closer until they were ultimately hovering right over the part of the roof above her room. With a gracious sigh Alice hopped down from the board and took a very unnatural step on account of the light sensation in her feet. She quickly decided the feeling of a solid unmoving surface under her feet was truly one to be cherished.
"Home sweet home." Jack said and Alice nodded in agreement and sat down on the flat roof, taking care not to make to much noise in case Ashley was awake. "So now what?" She asked.
"Well, Sandy's off schedule now so we probably have to get going." Alice stared at Jacks face, not sure if she should share her disappointment. "Now?" Sandy sadly nodded his head and then pointed to jack and then down towards the ground.
"Are you sure?" Jack asked and Alice began to feel a little like a third wheel as symbols passed over his head to quickly for her tired eyes to focus on. Jack rubbed the back of his head in thought, making his white hair ruffle.
"Ok then, I'll head in the opposite direction and ride the trade winds. Then I'll meet up with you in a few days." He said in what sounded a little like defeat. Sandy gave him a grateful smile and threw him a thumbs up. He turned to Alice and put his hands together in front of him and bowed slightly.
"Will you come by again?" She asked, mostly because she didn't know how to respond to his farewell gesture. He nodded with a small smile and the board slowly rose up. With a wave he was already surfing away into the night leaving the two in silence.
"Your not going with him?" Alice asked him and uncrossed her legs so she could lean back on her hands.
"No." Jack answered without looking at her and the golden dot grew smaller and smaller. "He wants me to stay and make sure your "situated" before taking off." He made the quotation mark gesture with his fingers as he pivoted on his foot and slowly walked towards her while distantly tapping the flat roof with the top of his staff.
"You seem worried."
"Yeah well..." He started as he sat down a couple feet to her right. "With all this talk about the sand and nightmares there's a lot to be worried about."
"Like..." Alice egged on, knowing what he was thinking. She felt some kind of mysteriousness surrounding this Nightmare King. It seemed everyone was so careful to not speak of it around her, as if it was something so horrible that she should know as little as possible about him. Logic like this tended to be the exact kind of thing that made her pry more though. Jack sighed and didn't say anything for a few moments before rubbing the back of his head.
"It was almost a year ago that I became a guardian. Pitch decided that it would be a good time to try to and devour the world in fear again." Alice took note of the "again" in his sentence which apparently meant the world was controlled by fear at least once before. The past always did sound like a painful place to her.
"Everything ended pretty well of course though the ride there was bumpy."
"Bumpy?" Alice asked, wanting to know details.
"Yeah. Pitch grew a lot stronger after Sandy kind of...died." Jack said awkwardly and the mood grew especially tense as Alice gaped at him in shock.
"What?" Alice asked in a higher tone than intended. It made no sense, since she had just seen him a few minutes ago, but the statement filled her with fear.
"Well obviously he's not gone," Jack added quickly, "but during a fight with Pitch he had his back turned and he took the opportunity. I tried to get there...but I wasn't fast enough."
'Had his back turned..." Alice thought and the image of the thin scar on his back from earlier lingered behind her vision.
"It was pretty-"
"Fucked up." Alice interrupted in a venomous tone as she stared down at the roof in anger. It didn't take long for her to decide this Pitch guy was someone she definitely would not get along with. Jack seemed a bit taken back from her sudden little outburst and cleared his throat.
"Erm-yea. I would've of used that but the whole guardian thing kinda keeps you in check." He said with an empty chuckle.
"Sorry...So how did he...?" Alice trailed off, not sure how to phrase the question.
"Come back? Oh just a few kids who still believed. Turns out courage is a pretty handy thing in a fight even if your not the one being brave." He said this as if he were remembering something amazing and Alice wished she could reminisce on something the way he did. The kind of reminiscing that made you smile even when you where in the darkest place.
"When Pitch attacked he targeted the children's faith in us. Without Sandy to balance out the nightmares with good dreams the fear started to take its effect and their belief in us faded. Thankfully not all of them though." Alice stared at the stars overhead and listened keenly to his story.
"In the end a small group of kids who still believed brought Sandy back. After that, some things happened and then Pitch disappeared back into the hole he crawled out of."
'Where was I when all this was happening?' Alice thought sadly. A brief silence followed until Alice decided to speak her mind.
"You must of felt pretty bad." She said softly after pulling her knees up to her chest and resting her chin over her arms on top of her knees. Feelings of guilt after a deeply cherished person passed wasn't something she was a stranger to. There were always lingering doubts of what could of been done if maybe one thing had changed the outcome. Just one little thing.
"Me? Guilt? Ha! And face Sandy's wrath?" He retorted with a sort of dry humor. Alice raised a questioning eyebrow to his odd response.
"He wouldn't have it." Jack explained with a sad smile. "He's just the kind of guy that hates it when people worry."
"Oh..." Alice said with a small smile. "So what happened after that?"
"Even though Pitch was gone, Nightmares were still running wild. Everyone was able to go back to their normal routine except for Sandy. The world was like a post apocalyptic war zone for nightmares." Jack stretched his arms out in a circle like motion for dramatic effect. "With their leader suddenly gone they scattered and went crazy. Every night it seemed these things would pop up and randomly go on a terror spree and the only one who can effectively get rid of the nightmares is Sandy. I stayed by his side most of the year, helping out whenever they popped up and keeping him awake. I don't even know if hes had a solid nap all year. He never complains either. He probably loves his job more than he loves sleep, and that's saying something." Jack inhaled deeply and held in a for a moment before exhaling.
"It just-...really seemed like everything was starting to lighten up and then this happens." Alice could hear the distress in his voice as he stood up she felt the temperature around them drop dramatically, giving her goosebumps. It was hard for Jack to stay seated for long amounts of time without getting antsy, much less when he's under stress.
"Sorry." She said sympathetically.
"...Nah, its not your fault." He said this part more to himself and leaned against his staff and looked up at the moon as if he could find the answer somewhere on its silver surface.
"So do you think Pitch is the cause of everything that's happening?"
"I don't know...the others seem to doubt it since its only been a little under a year but I...I'm just not so sure. Even if this girl is on her own I doubt he doesn't know whats going on."
"Why cant you guys just confront him or something?" Alice couldn't see why they couldn't just go to his...lair or wherever he lives and just demand to tell them what he knew.
"No ones seen him since he disappeared. Iv'e asked Sandy about his whereabouts and he said he can still feel his "presence" however that works, so I can only guess he's hiding until he recharges."
"Wow..." She sighed as she took it all in. Secret wars, magical beings, and evil villains. "It's all like a fairy tale." She murmured.
"You'd be surprised how many of those where inspired by us." He chuckled.
"So does it have a beginning then?"
"What?"
"The fairy tale." She blinked and repeated her question differently. "Where did you come from. How can you control the ice like that?"
"Me? Well that's...kind of a long beginning." He said slowly. Alice smiled and enthusiastically put her chin in her hands.
"I don't have anywhere to be." She smiled and waited eagerly.
"Its...also not a very happy one." Alice's face dropped a little but she decided not to push it and silently waited to see where his indecision would bring him.
"I'll tell it to you another time." He assured her as he walked to the edge of the roof. Jack leaned over the roof above her window and with a downwards swoop of his arm and a flick of his wrist opened her window without so much of creak. "It's getting cold out you should probably get inside."
"Wonder who's fault that is..." She muttered sarcastically and without a second thought she swung down and into the window, landing perfectly in a kneeling position in the warm room. An odd realization hit her as she stopped and sat on the ground.
"Yeah, I noticed to."
"What?" She said as casually as possible and stood up and quickly scanned her room for anything out of place. 'Same old, same old...'
"That your getting more agile. No offense but you where kind of a clutz the other night. Now suddenly your able to swing into a window without breaking a sweat."
"What are you saying Jack?" She muttered as she took off her coat and noticed her alarm clock said 2:42 A.M. Mind games weren't really one of her favorite sports, especially if she was the one being played with. Jack sighed and hooked his staff on the roofs ledge and hung upside down for a couple seconds before plopping down on the open window sill.
"So this is your room, huh? I expected it to be more..." He trailed off as he inspected the dim moonlit room.
"More what?" She inquired with a raised eyebrow as she walked over to the door and hung up her coat.
"I don't know...more...girly, I guess."
"What, like pink everywhere and make up sitting on every shelf?" A squeaky toy suddenly squealed loudly making Alice jump back. On cue Sammy instantly woke up from the warm pillow he was sleeping on and began a string of small barks and growls.
"Some guard dog." Jack stated humorously as she frantically tried to shush the dog up without being to loud. "Aren't they supposed to do that when we climb in the window, not after?"
"Sammy!...Sammy!" Alice whispered loudly and closed her hand around his snout. "Shh!" After a whine of disagreement the small pup silenced himself and sat back on its bottom. "Good boy." Sammy studied her with deep curious eyes and crawled into her lap when she sat down.
"I've never really liked pink, and as for makeup I hate wearing it." She informed him in a soft voice as she stroked the dogs fur.
"Yeah I'm not much of a makeup person either." He retorted in a casual sarcastic tone.
"Oh really, Mr. Eyebrows." Alice mocked with a roll of her eyes.
"Whats that supposed to mean?" He asked suspiciously and squinted his eyes.
"White hair and dark eyebrows?"
"I cant help that! Its just my biology." He defended.
"Is that what you call it." She muttered.
"Aaanyways...Where is everyone? Don't you have brothers or sisters? This place always seems so empty." Even though her house felt far from empty to her it was a little quiet at times.
"Nope." She said in a carefree tone and lifted the dog up and placed it back on its pillow. After some circle-turning it finally settled down and started to nod off. "Just me and Ashley."
"Soooo, is that your mom?"
"Technically step-mom, but we're more like sisters."
"Cool. So wheres your dad?"
"He-...He died when I was seven." She said, not having to try hard to keep a firm voice. It had been said a million times before so she didn't need much practice.
"Oh." A look of genuine surprise fell over his face and he awkwardly sat up in a more polite position. "I'm sorry."
"Thanks." She muttered and the room grew extremely quiet.
"What was he like?"
Alice thought about this long and hard before answering, since the question itself was rare. Whenever most people learned about Walter they would awkwardly stutter and mutter an apology and made sure to avoid the subject in the future as she were some delicate porcelain doll that would crack whenever the topic was brought up. And here Jack was asking all the right questions. Alice smiled and turned around on the bed to face him and crossed her legs, definitely a signature story telling mode. When he recognized it he flashed his usual grin and changed his position on the window sill to sitting down.
"Awesome." She said proudly.
Alice went on to tell him about the times he brought back her favorite butterscotch donuts on Fridays and how he never hired professionals to do their jobs because he always thought he could "fix" it himself. She told him how he shared his wisdom with her and watched the stars on the roof with the telescope he bought for her fourth birthday, that is if she was still awake by the time he got home. They both laughed when she told him how she had embarrassed him at work one day when she had innocently called his buddies a new bad word she had learned the day before at school. Jack listened to her every word without interrupting and chuckled with her when she laughed and stayed silent when the mood saddened. Buried memories began to resurface and Alice had to pause as she briefly relived them in her mind.
~0~
'I always wanted to leave this noisy place. To many cars. Go somewhere nice with just you and me, peanut." Walter said as he and Alice gazed at the twinkling stars atop the roof.
"Yeah," The much younger Alice agreed, "and get away from that mean dog that follows me home after school all the time." She added grumpily making him chuckle. He pulled his daughter closer from the chilly air.
"Where would we go?" Alice asked and tore her gaze away from what she just found out was Jupiter so she could give him a curious look.
"How about riiiight..." Walter raised his hand to the sparkling heavens and pointed his finger at some unknown wonder.
"There."
"You mean space?!" She shouted and bounced excitedly.
"Sure why not? Your in charge of stealing us a ship though." He chuckled and pinched her red frost-bitten nose between his fingers. Alice giggled and wiggled out of his clutches before turning very serious. Well as serious as a seven year old with messy hair and red cheeks could look.
"Can we really though? Maybe if we asked some astronauts reeeeal nice maybe they would bring us somewhere."
"I don't think anyone could resist if you asked them nicely." He said. "But you need to finish your math sheets first."
"Dang..."
"And maybe if you get really good at that math, one day you can fly a ship somewhere out there, too."
"I don't know. Jared in class is real smart and he said that I'm just a stupid head just because I couldn't do a dumb division thing. Alo said he just says that cause' he's jealous of my Pikachu backpack." She said sadly and pulled a piece of hair out of her mouth that had fallen victim to the chilly winds.
"Well next time you see "Jared" you tell him your dads a cop and if he's mean to you again I'll arrest him."
"But daddy your not a cop..."
"True, but it will still scare the pants off of him."
"Alo said boys are just mean because they like you." Alice said and made sure to remember what to tell Jared the next time he tried to bully her. A lot of girls in her class always said stuff like boys having "crushes" on girls but her young mind didn't quite grasp the concept of crushes to well.
"Well I think your a little young for relationships..." Walter started slowly since he didn't think he would have to have this talk so early, "but if a guy is ever treating you bad, even if its because he likes you, then he is never worth it. Never believe you that because someone is mean to you or treats you badly that you should be nice and give them a chance. They lost that opportunity the moment they disrespected you."
"Alright." Alice said in disinterest. She wasn't particularly moved by what he was saying, nor did she really understand it. But what Alice didn't know is that this knowledge was something she would remember for the rest of her life.
"And when you do get up there." Walter added and pointed up to the twinkling heavens. "Just remember to bring your old man along."
"I promise."
~0~
"Somehow, he knew where every planet was in the night sky. I always wanted to get up on the roof with my telescope and learn where each one is. For him."
"He sounds like a great man."
"He still is." She hugged the pillow in her lap tightly and continued. "Complete strangers approached me at his funeral and told me what a great man he was, not that I needed remembering. He always tried so hard to be good. That kindness is the only reason I know him now."
"What do you mean?" Jacks eyebrows furrowed in response to her strange statement.
"Well...I guess if your not going to tell me your beginning I could share mine. It doesn't start off very good either but its the most important thing that ever happened to me." She uttered and wrapped her blanket around her shoulders.
"Ash is the one who told me this story since he never really got the chance. It was about... fifthteen and a half years ago today that my dad was was driving home late after work. She said it was a hard day and a meeting kept him busy into the early morning around two or so. Well, on his way home he realized he was starting to get low on gas and decided to turn back to a gas station he passed a few seconds ago. When he was filling the tank up he heard a sound like a cat. A few seconds later it happened again and he realized it was the sound of a baby crying. At the time he didn't think it was odd until he was getting ready to go and realized there where no other cars around. He walked up to store at gas station and found a baby wrapped up in a blanket right in front of the door."
"That was you?!" He asked in amazement and stood up straighter when the story took a surprising turn.
"Yup." She said and nodded her head with an almost proud grin. That part always seemed to surprise people most.
"Whoa." He said and shook his head in shame. "I never understood how a person could do that."
"Yea...but I kinda feel like they did a favor for me, even if that wasn't their intention. I think Ash said I might of been a year old, maybe a little younger. Anyways, after he brought me in the car and called the police he told her that after couple minutes I finally stopped crying and the moment he saw my blue eyes he fell in love. After that state took me into foster care and tried to find my parents. A year later he moved up his job and Ash and him were finally able to have the time to officially able to adopt me."
"Wow. That's quiet a story."
"Yeah." Alice said with a yawn. "Not exactly fairy tail material but it usually wins over the saps in the "sad childhood trauma" department." She said humorously.
Jack said casually and stood up in front of the window and Alice realized he was getting ready to leave. "You know your pretty amazing."
"Thanks..." She said slowly and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the sudden compliment. "Compared to you guys I'm pretty lame though." She muttered with a sort of dry humor.
"Don't be silly." He said distantly as he studied the sky outside her window.
"Are you leaving?" She asked with a curious tilt of her head.
"Yeah its getting pretty late...well early." Alice glanced at the alarm clock which read four thirty-three "Besides I'm pretty sure you have somewhere to be tomorrow, so you better get some sleep. Dealing with bunny isn't going to be very enjoyable under the circumstances, especially if you haven't had sleep."
'Wow that went by fast.' Alice thought as she stared at the red numbers on the clock.
"Thanks for the talk. Haven't had a real conversation in while. It was nice." He said and stepped up onto the window sill.
"No prob." She said with a small smile. "Thanks for letting me in."
"Well, you have right to know whats happening. Get some sleep and good luck!" He said enthusiastically and in with a sudden kick off the ledge he darted out the window. Alice heard a familiar burst of wind and quickly got up and ran over to the open window.
"You could of at least closed the window!" She shouted into the air and surveyed the night sky for the blue figure.
"My bad!" A barely audible distant yell from the somewhere in the sky met her ears and Alice knew wherever he was it was definitely out of sight. She closed the window and after walking across her room she fell over onto her bed and with a silly smile pulled her fluffy orange pillow into a tight hug. Before she could even begin to wonder what tomorrow would be like, a relaxing sleep met her like an old friend and a few minutes later Sammy lazily got up and plopped down next to her with a loud sigh.
I think this might be the longest chapter yet. ^U^ I hope there aren't any big mistakes, I went over it like three or four times Dx *dead*
Fun fact: Originally I hadn't planned to have another OC like Alice, I just wanted to stick to the usual characters and a new villain, but I decided she made for a much better story. :) I think shes pretty rad though. It's nice that everything is all cheery but here's a heads up for the very close future:
SHITS GONNA GET DARK. Maybe not the next chapter, but soon. Soon...(._.')
Welp, hoped you like it, Ill update soon. :p
Happy Birthday Krystal! :D