When Jack landed on the windowsill of North's palace, their emergency meeting was already in session.
"We should have never let her go! She should have left with the other guests, or never left at all! We are in trouble!" His heavy accent echoed off the walls as the blue-eyed boy landed gracefully on the leader's soft rugs.
"Hey, hey! There's no need to raise your voice." He warned with such kindness everyone else relaxed their shoulders a little bit. "What's going on?"
"Well surely you know Jack, you were just with little Bennett!"
Mouth agape and eyebrows pointing at opposite directions, Jack complained, "You activated the aurora lights and ordered all of us here because of Jamie's mom?! Are you being serious?"
"No, Jack! It's not just about Jamie and his family! It's happening –" the jolly old man traced a circle with his hands, "Everywhere! And there's only one person responsible for all these love problems, and she's not doing her job!"
The winter guardian chuckled. "How lazy can she ge – ow!" Sandy punched him on the leg and began creating images of bows and arrows shattering.
Tooth fluttered towards Jack; blurring his vision with waves of purple and green. It was beautiful – but hypnotizing. "You really think she's just being lazy Jack? This is her responsibility passed on by Cupid. I doubt she's just 'too lazy' to fix things."
"Um…I have no idea where you're going with this," Jack replied, confuzzled. Once again Sandy creates a clutter of sandy floating objects that he could not make out.
"What we are trying to say is Jack," North whispered harshly, "We think Cupid is in danger."
"Arrow," Bunny corrected. "And what makes you think she's in danger? Just because she's not doing her only job doesn't mean she's in any sort of trouble. She's probably just not paying any attention to what's going on outside of her ancient cottage?"
Ancient cottage? Now I wanna see that! "I – I'll volunteer to check up on her. That's where I was headed to, anyways, before you guys called me up."
The jolly old man roared in laughter, hands on top of his belly. "Oh Jack, I don't think you have a choice!" He pointed up at the window. "Man in Moon chose you to find her. He said to use your instincts!"
"My instincts? What-?"
"We don't know." North cut him off. "Think about it! Okay guardians, carry on with your duty." With that the big four all separated to opposite directions and the young boy was left by himself, in the middle of the workshop. Where to go, where to go?
He felt a little tug on his pant leg, and looked down to see the Sandman. "At least you didn't abandon me, can I follow you?" The little man smiled smugly and nodded.
The two walked on top of guy wires in the outskirts of Vancouver, British Columbia as Sandy spread his dreamsand all across the oversnowy city to Canadian children. "I did a great job here, didn't I Sandy?" Jack joked. The Sandman of course, was not pleased. He kept sending his magic through the bittersweet air. "What does he mean to use my instincts? How will I know how to get there if I don't even know where she lives?"
Sandy stopped sending dreamsand for a moment to squint his eyes at Jack.
"What? Come on, don't give me that look. I really don't know!"
The golden man shaped an image similar to the statue in Burgess, in hopes the winter guardian will understand. "Fly back to my hometown? Is that where she is?" Sandman, shook his head, frustrated. "You know Sandy, sometimes I wish you could talk."
He stretched his arm out to play with the dreamsand swirling around him. It felt like the beads you'd find in those beanie cushions. Upon contact with it, bows and arrows danced around Jack. Sandy smirked. "What," Jack turned around and threw his hands up in the air lightly, "I've been thinking about Arrow lately. No big deal, we're friends, and I wonder what she's been up to. What – no! I don't love her! Don't point that golden heart at me, Sandy," he tried to whack the dreamsand heart out of his face. "She's gorgeous, but no."
The two of them fly over the great city and land on top of a pillow of snow. Jack fell backwards and began making a snow angel. "I wish the man in the moon would speak to me himself, it's like he doesn't trust me or something!" He glanced over to the Sandman, who's building a tower of snowballs, "Help me out here?" His fellow guardian stuck his index finger out. "Aw, yeah, is that the best idea you've got? Wait? I don't have much time here, Sandy! Arrow could be dying this second and my excuse is that I'm waiting for further instructions." He snapped. Sandy, however, continued making snowballs.
Silence swept through them. No car horns, no flashing lights, just little flecks of snow that landed on Jack's nose. He couldn't help but admire his own work. All these little happy moments taken for granted, hated on, shoveled away. For some particular reason, the young spirit felt this was one of his most memorable moments. Everything was perfect in this moment. He could stay like this forever. But, then again, he can't. Something bothered the winter spirit. "Hey Sandy, have you ever fell in love?"
No response.
Jack slowly got up from his comfortable position, some snow slipping off of his snow-coloured hair as well. There was no sign of his fellow guardian in sight. "Sandy?"
He walked a few steps around his surroundings with his staff pointed out go guard him, somewhat afraid of what's hidden behind the forests. Then he felt a tug on his pant leg and immediately shot ice at that direction. Luckily, Sandman hopped away just in time. "Holy crap, Sandy! Not funny!" he was about to shout when a golden finger was placed on his lip, shushing the winter spirit. The faint whistling of wind could be heard miles and miles away. Jack at first didn't interpret his message. What was he supposed to be listening for? Should he be armed and ready? What was Sandy trying to get him to hear? Was it the wind? The wind? Oh…the wind. "You're telling me, I should go with the wind?" His friend created three shapes on top of his head at once : a few squiggly lines, and arrow pointing right, and a house. "Wind, take me home," Jack whispered. He didn't need a dreamsand translator to understand that.
"So, you're saying – I can ask the wind to take me to Cu – Arrow's cottage?" The Sandman nodded eagerly, ecstatic someone finally could read his messages, but his smile immediately wiped off when Jack asked, "God Sandy, why didn't you say something?"
There was an awkward moment of silence until the winter spirit grabbed his staff and began climbing to the top of a tree. "Kidding! See, it's not fun being teased is it?" When he reached the highest branch, he shouted his familiar call, "Wind, take me to Arrow's cottage!"
I really didn't want this chapter to end like this, but if I didn't upload it tonight, I'd be so disappointed in myself. Who got their Rise of the Guardians DVD yesterday? Anyone got the hopping eggs as well? :]