Chapter fourteen - Listen!
"You're not honestly telling me you were believed in by accident!" Áedán stared at him, the two waiting outside Hallow's door for any news on whether or not she was awake yet. Jack had been sharing his story with the spirit, about how he became a guardian and took down Pitch. It was almost creepy how amazed the boy seemed.
"Well, sort of, yeah. I mean, I didn't ask Jamie to believe in me. At the time, I was just trying to get him to believe in the Easter Bunny again." At the mention of Bunny, something in the ghost's eyes seemed to light up,
"Hey, did he tell you what happened between then? It was a complete misunderstanding, of course, but last I heard he was still quiet upset about it." Jack paused for a moment before his expression turned to recognition,
"You mean the pumpkin problem? Oh yeah, cotton tail's still mad about that…wait a sec, misunderstanding? How do you misunderstand a warren full of rotten pumpkins?" Jack asked, confused. Áedán grinned for a moment, then begun replying,
"When Mr Bunnymund tried to bring her an Easter egg, he came from the South side. And a very, very large part of that area is werewolf territory. Just so happens his arrival, unfortunately, coincided with the Full Moon Hunt, a werewolf monthly ritual where the wolves go running as one huge pack, hunting with their baser instincts from the wolf mentality instead of the human one – giving the wolf reign of the forest once a month stops them rampaging through the rest of the land, Hallow says. When she found out what happened she wanted to apologise. But she's still only a child. She though that since he had tried to give her an egg, a symbol of his holiday, she'd try to do the same. But the pumpkins she created were born from straight out magic, not from care and growth, when that magic, the magic of fall and autumn, combined with the magic of the warren, all of them began to rot. She didn't realise this until later, that trying to just magic pumpkins out of thin air will cause them to rot twice as fast, throw that in with the warren and... She only does it now when she really has to…like when a sudden frost kills them all off." Áedán looked at Jack with a smirk. The winter spirit chuckled nervously, looking towards her bedroom door,
"So, she was trying to apologise to him? Boy is he gonna get a kick outta that! Being mad all this time because of those rotten pumpkins. Why didn't Hallow tell him sooner?" he turned to look for Áedán, looking around confused as he seems to have disappeared, not hearing the door open,
"Because I know he can hold a grudge and I knew he'd be too angry with me to listen." Jack started as he heard the sleep-coated voice, twisting around as he stood up and almost stumbling on the spiral stairs. Well, that explained why Áedán disappeared. Looking Hallow over, he took note of the multitude of bandages. Around her shoulders, torso, wrists and ankles. He was willing to bet there were more under her sleep shorts and vest too. It made him sick to think about, remembering all that scarlet blood across the ground, those thorns tearing muscle, piercing flesh…he shuddered to remember it,
"Who were you talking to?" she asked, looking around curiously. She still seemed tired, half asleep and lax in her posture. Vulnerable. Maybe she'd be easier to talk to. Jack rose to his feet in front of her,
"Nobody really, just a couple of spirits flying around, thought I could find out how you were doing in there since the last time I stepped in your room without permission you decided to play trick and tag" Jack can see the moment she truly wakes up, her eyes becoming sharper, harsher, and he braces himself for what he knows is about to come, even after knowing her for such a short time.
I'm surprised you're still here. I thought you'd have gone back to the rest of your fellow guardians by now. Having seen the 'horrors' of my ream. Does it repulse you, seeing blood exchange happening? Hm? Why are you still here, Jack, when there's nothing I could possibly give you, and nothing you could possibly have from me? I have enough to deal with without worrying about whether or not you're going to be a problem when this world is already-" she was cut off by Jack leaning forward and physically slapping his hands over her mouth,
"Enough! That's enough already! Stop trying so hard to push me away! I don't hate you, Hallow. Okay? I don't blame you, I don't hate you, and I definitely don't want to cause you any trouble. I don't even know what happened to make the others hate you! Now you're gonna listen to me this time. I've just watched you get cut to pieces, and I know you know I was watching, but this is what's going to happen. We're gonna to start again, you're gonna stop trying to push me away, and I'm gonna try and stop you from falling on your face every time you take a step, really pumpkin head, you're swaying pretty badly there" Taking his hand away from her mouth, she continued to stand there, staring at him, mouth still open a little in shock. She looked paler than Jack against the dull stonework, one hand clutching the door-frame with a white-knuckle grip.
For a minute, everything was silent, Hallow's yellow eyes staring at Jack as though she couldn't comprehend what she was hearing. Though to be fair, Jack thought, she probably couldn't. Giving her his least mischievous smile, trying to keep it as honest and friendly as he could, he held out a hand to her,
"So? Whaddaya say?" A small hand fit into his and shook it firmly as he grinned, "Hi, my name's Jack Frost. I'm the bringer of winter and also interested in helping a short pumpkin head get back on her feet again." And Jack felt himself relax when he saw her smile.
The two of them sat in the main room after Hallow was finally able to get downstairs, Sally handing her a mug of dark brown liquid swirling with gold and a couple of cookies,
"What's that?" Jack asked, leaning over to stare at the cup, Hallow moving it away to take a sip,
"It's hot cocoa and honey, Sally always makes it for me after I meet with the Fae. It's the best thing for getting my energy back up…well, that and cobweb cookies." She giggles softly, holding up one of the cookies for Jack to look at. Iced to look like a black spider, each individual leg covered in something sot and whispy white. She took a bite and smiled at Sally, "spun sugar and chocolate chip…perfect like every year, thank you Sally" she was surprisingly soft spoken when she was calm like this, Jack noted. Her voice was not harsh or sharp as it had been with him; no, instead she was relaxed and civil. Secretly, Jack wondered what she was like when she was really in her element and enjoying herself
With her legs curled up next to her, she looked even smaller than when she was standing up. Clearing his throat, Jack rested his staff against the table and turned to Hallow.
"So, first thing's first, wanna tell me what's up with the creepy crone that gets you turned into fresh meat?" Hallow flinched a little at the question, and Jack saw the moment her shields were thrown back up (the damn girl was like a yoyo with how quickly she switched moods), focusing her gaze on her drink instead. The frost guardian prepared himself for another snap about minding his own business. It was a surprised when she just sighed,
"Look I know I agreed I'd stop pushing you away and I will try but what you're asking… I don't know if I'm ready to talk about that. I mean, the only ones who even know what really goes on and the reasons why are Sally and Jack – Skellington, I mean – and a few sparse others. And though you've proven you're not going to leave in a hurry, I've shouted at you and implied it enough and you're still here. But…" she stopped when Jack's staff came to rest on her shoulder lightly, turning her gaze to him. Blue eyes smiled at her in the low torchlight,
"You didn't shout at me then for asking. That's progress. And that's good enough for now. And I'm not leaving because I don't think you're really want me to, do you? I know you're stronger than you let anyone see. If you really wanted me gone, I'd be gone." Hallow's mouth twitched up into another of those small smiles, Jack was half beginning to wonder if she was afraid of smiling honestly, and turned her head down again. With a glance to Sally, Jack caught her grateful nod as the ragdoll left them be.
For now, her surrogate daughter was calm, and had someone different there for her.
She only hoped Jill and her premonitions were wrong.
I know, I know, a long time since the last update, I really have no excuse for this one bar stress and exam pickup and college enrollment...I'll keep trying my best to work on it.