Disclaimer: I own nothing except Sídhe. Everything else belongs to DreamWorks.
Note: Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I had no idea how to start this one and Winter Wind has been a pain recently on top of all the holiday drama. I hope you enjoy a little insight into the wind. Anyone who's seen Doctor Who will (hopefully) understand that I don't necessarily think in a linear fashion… wibbley wobbley timey wimey. Sídhe Castell (pronounced "she'd") is the spirit of the wind, if you hadn't figured that out, and this is a sister story to Winter Wind.
Set ten years after the movie; Christmas Eve has come to the world once more.
Kozmotis arch, part 3
Then: Zephyr
Sídhe charged us with carrying Jack to Santoff Claussen. The trip over the frozen wastelands had been nothing less than arduous. The boy had passed out after we had just left the cavern. To make matters worse, several of us kept leaving, others returning, creating a flux that made keeping the boy aloft most difficult. By the time we had arrived at Nicolas' Bastion, we had nearly relinquished him to the snow he loved three times.
We had sent one of the breezes ahead to alert the yetis. There was one among them that milady called Phil that we knew would wish to know of our arrival. Surely enough, the sorrel being was standing outside the bastion with a panicked expression. We knew as he reached for the pale child that reason had been abandoned out of desperation. We could not blame him, after all, he had been the first of the yetis to play with Jack and so, we deposited the frail boy into his arms without qualm.
Before he went inside, the yeti said something that we understood as 'thank you'. Several of our younger breezes left with the sorrel being to keep Jack company. We knew milady would be cross if they hadn't.
Then: World view
North had been the first to realize the wrongness in his territory. The feeling in belly had tipped him off that something that had never occurred before was about to begin. He had been checking in with the other yetis in the workshop when the feeling was cemented; he saw Phil carrying their favorite winter spirit to the infirmary. He ran after Phil after seeing the blood on Jack's face and was nearly hit by the infirmary doors as he rushed inside.
"Phil, who did this?" he yelled after the yeti.
Phil shrugged in response. He sat Jack down on one of the many cots and leaned the spirit's staff against the wall. The sorrel being began cleaning the blood off the young spirit while North stood there dumbfounded. Then, he saw the black sand clinging to the blue hoodie. The yeti didn't so much as glance up as North roared in fury and stormed from the room to call the other Guardians. He sighed heavily when he found that Jack's nosebleed, while very slow, wouldn't stop.
North charged into the meeting hall and turned the Aurora on, hoping the others would see in time. Within minutes, a hole opened up nearby in the floor. Bunnymund hopped into the room looking disgruntled.
"What gives, mate? I thought the party was tomorrow," the pooka complained.
"This isn't about party, Bunny. Pitch was at the Pole," North replied with a fire in his eyes.
The pookas' jaw dropped. Whatever he had expected, it wasn't that. Before he could say anything, a golden airplane flew into the meeting hall carrying Sanderson and Toothiana. North waited for the plane to dissipate and the Guardians to join them. Their confused looks were silenced when North explained what he thought had happened to Jack. Toothiana had unintentionally taken flight, he feathers puffed up angrily. Golden sand flashed images at a blinding speed above Sanderson's head. The only one not completely losing his cool was Bunnymund, who was staring at the floor.
"Why would Pitch be here now?" the pooka asked them, "I mean, think about it. This would be the worst time for the blighter to try anything here."
The Guardians knew that Bunnymund had a point. A breeze flew through the hall, playing in the globe before going to speak to Sanderson, who was the only one that could understand its soft whispers. More golden figures flashed above the Sandman's head as he conversed with it.
"Hey, mate," Bunnymund spoke up, "What's going on? Did Sídhe send word?"
Sanderson nodded as the breeze cascaded out the hall once more. An image of two figures walking up to the front doors appeared in the sand. The others were running for the entrance before they saw the second image above his head; a golden butterfly.
Then: Zephyr
We felt Sídhe's consciousness on the wind once again, calling us. Many of the little gusts were already at the cavern, helping her fight the swarm of fearlings, but not enough.
Sweeping back to the caverns' entrance with all due haste, we found her holding the hand of a much different Pitch than we recalled. Sídhe told us in our way, through the air currents, that he had rediscovered himself through a dream Sanderson had sent him. Kozmotis was once more the general we had known and respected even before milady had come into existence. Golden butterflies surrounded them, which gave us reason to believe her explanation. As we lifted then into the skies, we noticed how the former Nightmare Kings' heart accelerated with fear.
"Don't worry," milady smiled at him, "Zephyr, the wind, has never failed me. It will carry us safely."
Despite such reassurances, Kozmotis' pulse did not calm 'til his feet were set firmly on the ground again. We wondered if he no longer trusted us, but kept the thought to ourselves. After all, there had been a time in the Golden Age when he had flown and laughed with us as carefree as a songbird. Even young Amelia still flew with us, but we understood why she was no longer as joyful as she once was. Losing a loved one was hard enough; he had lost both her parents in a fortnight. We wondered also if we shouldn't speak to her to the days' occurrence. We decided it would be better to wait until after he was reintroduced to the Guardians.
The aforementioned Guardians burst from the bastion moments after milady and Kozmotis had been set in front of the main doors save Jack, whom we knew was still unconscious.
Now: World view
"Just remember… with wind comes change."
Sídhe stood alone as the only calm guardian when the others emerged from the building. She'd known before bringing Kozmotis here that they would be furious, but even that was an understatement. North charged at them with his scimitars until she stepped in the way and deflected the blades with a gust of wind that carried the weapons away from their holder.
"Enough!" she yelled at the murderous Guardians.
"What is the meaning of this, Sídhe?" North asked incredulously, "Why bring Pitch here!? He hurt Jack."
Sídhe rolled her eyes and snapped, "Use those big eyes of yours to see something other than hate. During the Golden Age, he was known as Kozmotis Pitchiner. This is Lune's will."
She glared pointedly at each of them, daring them to oppose her statement. North looked hurt by her words, but said nothing. Sandy floated forward and stopped in front of Kozmotis. The sandman looked him over, and then smiled when he saw the kaleidoscope of butterflies behind them.
"Another thing, North," Kozmotis spoke up, "I did not harm Jack. I had tried to figure out why he had been yelling at a snowdrift with blood pouring out his nose when he saw fit to attack me."
Sídhe shot a knowing glace at Bunnymund who had been an unfortunate specter to last year's hellish incident. The pooka looked ill as he recalled the event; he'd been the one to find Jack squalling at the snow through the delirium of holding back his power for almost a week.
"Then who did?" snapped North.
"Holding back his powers… it's brutal to him, just as stopping the wind would be to me, North," Sídhe spoke up; it was time they knew the truth, "Jack… he wouldn't have told you, but it nearly killed him last year."
The shocked silence rang mercilessly around them.