Jack insists on spending the night, after that. No matter how many times I tell him that I will be fine, he doesn't seem convinced. And I don't mind the company. When I grow exceedingly tired he perches on my bed's footboard, hunched over like an animal about to attack it's prey. His staff rests under his palms, and offers some support against the stone ground. He is ready to attack at a moment's notice.
I almost feel bad for Pitch.
Almost.
"Goodnight, Jack." I mutter through a yawn as I crawl under the covers, pulling them to my chin. I hear him chuckle a bit as he twists his head to face me.
"More like good afternoon." He teases, and I smile. And eventually I drift asleep, and wake up hours later. The first thing I notice when my blue eyes open is Jack, still perched at the end of the bed, still prepared to defend me.
After packing two bags of rations, I'm standing outside Anna's door, a note clutched in my hand. Jack offered to accompany me, but I refused. This was something I had to do alone.
Something about leaving her note saying I'm leaving for a few days seems wrong, but talking to her seems impossible. If she protests or begs to come with me... What do I do then? I close my eyes, letting a weary sigh slip through my teeth. I am too young and too confused to be able to handle such complicated situations.
I settle on sliding the note under the door. I use the excuse that it is late and I don't want to wake Anna when she desperately needs peaceful sleep. I know that that is not the only reason, but I take comfort in it anyway as I fix the bag slung over my shoulder and head to the courtyard, where I promised to meet Jack ten minutes ago.
"You're late." He mutters, though not angrily.
"I am never late, everyone else is simply early." I smirk, and he rolls his eyes, though he is smiling as well. "I am sorry though. I just-"
"You don't need to explain yourself to me, Els." I smile appreciatetively and follow along side him as we begin in the directions of the stables. We were going to fly, until we realized how long of a trip that would be, how exhausted it would make us, and how impossible the mountainous wind currents were to control. In short we didn't want to die, so we had decided on walking.
It would take three days by walking. That seemed like a long time to me, who has never had to do such excursions on her own. It also, however, seemed very exciting. It rivaled some adventures I had read over the years, and I was fully prepared for anything that the world decided to throw at me.
Well, almost anything.
"So where exactly is we are going, anyway?" I ask, looking at Jack as I take his hand as he helps haul me up the side of a small mountain we have encountered.
Jack smiles deviously, his gaze locking on mine. "We're going to Santa's Workshop."
Author's Note- Sorry for all the grammar/spelling mistakes! My spell check isn't working and I don't have time to go through and edit... Oooops. Just try to ignore it as best you can. Thanks so much for reading! Reviews/Follows/Favorites LOVED! Sorry it took so long to update, hopefully that won't happen too frequently! :)