Author's Note: Hello everyone and welcome back to "The Winter Child!" =D A little while ago, my sisters and my mom did some cleaning in our garage. ='D We found a whole ton of stuff from our childhoods that we completely forgot. My mom even stumbled across her old wedding heels and put them on (shockingly, she still fit in them! QwQ).
Other than that, I got nothing else to report *Sighs heavily* I really need to start coming up with good author's notes, 'cause I don't think I should draw blanks for this long. ='3
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! =D
~ LXI ~
Drowning in Darkness, Part Two
It was cold
It was dark
So very, very dark
He couldn't breathe
Couldn't see
Numbness took over his parts
He would've drowned if he hadn't been saved
He wouldn't have made it if he hadn't been rescued
But even though was safe and sound
Something dangerous twisted within Jack deep down
...
Jack couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe. Alarm bells went off in his head the instant he crashed into the frigid waters below. His arms and legs flailed in the water, fright taking over his senses. The snow sprite made the mistake of trying to suck in a breath. Water burned his lungs like oil.
The Fearlings wrapped and weaved around him, which only made him even more panicked. The Fearlings knew that Jack was afraid. They knew that their presence unnerved him. They drew closer and closer, Jack's fear like a beacon to the fear-hungry monsters that lurked in the water. The snow sprite kicked and bucked against their grip as they dragged him down into the murk.
Jack tried to freeze the Fearlings, but his hands were tangled by their tentacle-like hands. Bubbles broke past Jack's lips as they began to choke the oxygen out of his lungs.
He wasn't going to let it end this way. Jack refused to let himself drown. Jamie was still up there, and he needed to get back to him. Not only that, but he couldn't lose North. He couldn't lose Aster, Tooth, Sandy, and all of his friends because of an irrational choice he had made. He wasn't going to give in to his fear, he wouldn't let the shadows win.
Using the last of his strength, Jack summoned all the magic that he could, and in a burst of blue, the Fearlings that held him froze over. The snow sprite quickly tried to swim to the top, but the remaining Fearlings in the water latched onto his legs and began to drag him down. Jack let out a strangled scream as he was dragged down into the darkness.
His consciousness was leaving him. The spot of light above him blurred and grew further and further from reach. Just as Jack thought all hope was lost, he spotted something to drop into the water. Jack forced his eyes to focus as he made out a rope hanging just a couple of feet away from him.
The young teen kicked against the Ferlings grip. He jerked and strained until they could no longer hold him. Jack pushed, pushed, pushed, for the rope that hung before him. He grabbed onto it as if it were his lifeline, and suddenly, he was swept from the waters.
A bright light filled his vision and the area around him still sounded as if he were underwater. Jack's chest burned as he coughed and hacked, throwing up the water he had inhaled. He shivered violently, and in his watery vision, he saw Jamie's figure running up to him, tears running down his face.
"Jack?! Jack! Oh my moon, y-you're going to be okay, I promise!"
Jack felt the boy pull him to his feet and started carrying him toward the sleigh. "This is all my fault, this is all my fault…Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry!"
"J-Ja…Ja..mie…" Jack rasped. He broke off into a fit of painful coughs, and Jamie helped him climb into the sleigh.
"I-I'm gonna get us home, okay? You're going to be okay, you h-have to be okay…" Jamie draped a blanket over Jack, and the snow sprite huddled into it, shivering. Jamie ran to the front of the sleigh and grabbed the reins.
"P-P…Pull g-g-gent…ly…" Jack croaked. The world was spinning as his head thudded with pain. "N-Not…t-too…hard…"
Jamie cracked the reins and the reindeer rushed forward. Jack pulled the blanket together around him, trying to cling to consciousness as they rode on.
…
North had a troubling feeling in his belly. He didn't know where it had come from, for everything that day had been going along as normal. He completed several projects and sold many of his toys and inventions to the people of Santoff Claussen. He even managed to squeeze in a visit to Sandy, Aster, and Tooth's homes. They were all doing fine and well and gave him early birthday wishes, which North appreciated.
But he still felt that something was wrong…And his belly was very rarely not right. So he thought back on his day, wondering what seemed out of the ordinary, and that's when he realized he hadn't seen Jack at all that day.
The snow sprite had said that he would be at Katherine's, so that's exactly where North was headed. He knew that Jack was probably fine, but the ex-Cossack just wanted to check up on him. Knowing that Jack was alright would probably quell this inauspicious feeling of his.
North arrived at Big Root and knocked on the door. Katherine answered, an expected look on her face. Upon seeing North, however, she seemed to be disappointed, which North found rather odd.
"What? You are not happy to see me?" asked North. Katherine blinked, and she quickly covered herself up with a smile.
"No, no, it's not that. It's just…" Katherine tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was expecting someone else."
Expecting someone else? What did that mean? North hummed, and he said, "I'm looking for Jack. He said that he'd be here, but I am not seeing him around. Do you happen to know where he is?"
Katherine blinked again. Now she was beginning to look suspicious. "Uh…I'm not sure where he is, North," she answered.
North raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
Katherine nodded, but North still didn't seem convinced.
"Um…Jack just left to get something, that's all," said Katherine.
"When did he leave?" asked North.
"A while ago," replied Katherine.
"And where can I find him?"
"He's…not here," Katherine said.
"Then where is he?" asked North.
Katherine stared at the ex-Cossack for a few moments. He looked genuinely worried for Jack, and Katherine knew she couldn't evade the truth any longer. To be frank, she was beginning to grow worried for Jack as well. He promised that he and Jamie would be back in an hour, but it's been two, and they still haven't returned.
Katherine sighed. "North…Jack isn't in the village. I-I told him not to go, but he insisted! He promised he'd be back so you don't have to worry—"
"Where did he go?" North asked again, this time more demanded. Katherine gulped. She knew that North was a kind man, but when he grew solemn, he wasn't to be fooled with.
"Somewhere in the forest," Katherine replied. "I didn't get a good look at the map, so I'm afraid I can't point out exactly where there…"
As upset as he looked, deep down, North was beyond worried. Jack was out there in the woods alone and he had been gone for a little over two hours. Something had to have happened.
"I'm going after him," North said, turning around. He paused. "You should've told me about what he was going to do."
Before Katherine could reply, left Big Root, leaving her feeling guiltier than she had ever felt before.
…
"Frostbite did what?!"
"He left the village. I don't know where he is or what he's doing, but he took the sleigh, and I don't know where to start looking for him!"
Aster rubbed his forehead. "Jack's done some ridiculous things, but this has ta be the worst of 'em."
"Do you think you can find him?"
"Probably," replied Aster. He crossed his arms. "But the woods is a lot of ground ta cover. And we still have the Fearlings to worry about lurking in there."
North sighed. He had gone straight to Ater's after Katherine revealed that Jack had left for the woods. The Pooka knew the place like that back of his paw, but he knew if they were going to look for Jack, they couldn't just rush in. They needed to plan. And right now, all North had for a plan was to find Jack and bring him home.
"Look, mate, I'm just as worried about Frosbtie as ya are, but we can't just run in without knowin' where ta look," said Aster.
"I know," said North. "But we have to find him."
"And we will. I'm sure Jack's fine. Who knows, maybe the kit will find his way back all on his—"
Suddenly, there was a great commotion from outside. North and Aster looked at each other, then headed outside to investigate. A large crowd of people had gathered, and in the middle of it was North's missing sleigh.
North and Aster pushed their way to the front, breaking through the thick group of people that surrounded them. When they reached the sleigh, they found Jamie Bennett supported by a deathly pale Jack Frost, who was leaning his entire weight against the poor eight-year-old boy. Jack's cloak still dripped with water, but the liquid had frozen into icicles on the tips of his hair, clothes, and blanket.
Jack spotted North, who stared at him shocked. The snow sprite coughed and flashed a weak smile.
"H-Happy birthday," he croaked.
Then, he passed out.
Author's Note: Not the best way to greet somebody for their birthday, but hey, this is Jack Frost we're talking about. He's completely unpredictable. XD
I like to imagine if Jack was real (please don't make fun of me QwQ), he'd leave little frost drawings on my window for my birthday. And then later in the day, we'd have a giant snowball fight with the other Guardians and the Burgess children until sundown. Then we'd all go to the North Pole for cake and have one heck of a time before flying home to celebrate with my family too.
Ahhhh, a fangirl can only dream. ='D
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to see ya'll in the next one! =D
Until the next chapter!
~BeyondTheMoon1203
P.S. - I realize how weird it sounds to say "see ya'll in the next chapter" when I can't actually see you guys at all. =') But what should I say instead? "I'll see your messages in the next chapter?"
...Now that just sounds even weirder. OuO
