Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait (and the semi-short chapter), but for someone with no life, I'm uber busy. But here's Jack's Tree Pt. 2. There will be a third part… If you guys review :D
Rated T for Blood, violence, possible character death, the works : )
~Bunnymund, Jack Frost, and Pitch~ Jack's Tree, Pt.2
"All you have to do is join me." Pitch said softly, easing into the crescendo of his offer as he leisurely strolled around Jack's tree. And after catching a glimpse of the expression on the boy's face, the Nightmare King knew that he was taking every word to heart; Jack always was an open book.
Yes, this was moving along nicely.
"Just imagine it, Jack! No more of this confusion, no more of this uncertainty! No more wanting to disappear. No more emptiness," At these words, Jack tore his gaze from the knife in his hand to the spirit beside him.
"Jack…" Pitch spoke just under a whisper. "I know you don't trust me, and I don't blame you for that… but I'm not asking your trust only to break it again," Jack's eyes were glued to Pitch's slightly watering ones, the bright blue hue sparkling with a newfound sense of hope.
If Pitch wasn't trying to win the kid over, he would've laughed out loud. How easily a few words and a sad face could get the spirit's attention. It was quite amusing, how desperate he was for someone to trust.
"I'm asking your trust solely because I wish to help you…"
Jack thought hard about this as he examined Pitch, who bore upon his face a look of dampened, honest-to-god sincerity. It was a mix of understanding and pleading, with the slightest twinge of expectancy barely overshadowed by sadness. He looked… well, like he meant these words.
But looks were deceiving.
All but Jack's of course, whose angry scowl projected the answer before they even escaped his lips. He always was an open book.
"No." Jack said through clenched teeth, dropping his knife and hopping off of his branch to better face the spirit whose offer was rebuffed for the second time. He grabbed the staff propped up against his tree and gestured towards Pitch with it.
"I'm not stupid, Pitch. I know what's going on here. You're taking me for a fool when I'm at my weakest, taking advantage of me because you think that I'll just give in." Jack's voice was unwavering and bold, determined to prove Pitch wrong. "You could care less if I'm confused, or empty, and you don't want to help me at all, so long as I'm on your side. Well, let me clear that up for you real fast," Jack clenched his free fist as tight as he possibly could, a failing attempt to channel his frustration with the dark spirit. "There are no sides. I'm not with them, and I'm most certainly not gonna be with you!"
Pitch kept his relaxed composure despite the surprise that shot through him like a bullet. He was taken aback. He never really thought that Jack would figure it out. Pitch didn't allow the disappointment to spread to his face as the boy glowered at him. The words Jack said had startled him because, quite frankly, they were true. He sighed, a little disheartened at the fact that he would have to move on to Plan B.
"I thought this might happen…" Pitch shook his head nonchalantly, fiddling with his nightmare sand as it whirled around his fingers. His eyes darted over to the woods beside him. The rabbit was nearer approaching.
It would have to be done quickly.
What happened next took place too fast for Jack to comprehend. Pitch caught him off guard, blowing the nightmare sand into his face with a gust of wind so powerful it knocked him back into one of the trees surrounding his own. His staff was forcefully ripped from his hands, and by the time Jack managed to rub away the sand from his eyes, Pitch was before him. Everything moved too fast to know exactly what happened; one minute, he was staring up at a very angry looking Nightmare King, his icy blue eyes wide with fear. The next, a wave of pain splashed over his lower body, and his eyes clenched shut as the sensation swept over him. And he was… stuck to the tree, if that made any sense. Every move brought on another wave of indescribable pain and shock. When Jack opened his eyes a few seconds later, he managed to (or tried to, at least) piece together what happened.
Pitch had stabbed him through the middle with an ornately designed black dagger. It's owner was nowhere in sight, probably fleeing because Bunny could be seen not too far in the distance. The dagger went straight through him and into the tree behind him, pinning him in place. And he was unbearably hot, the temperature felt to have risen at least thirty degrees, temperatures that a winter spirit really wasn't supposed to endure. There was a blinding bright light in front of him, and when he could finally make out what it was, his heart stopped.
His tree, the one with too many tallies to count, the one that he'd spent almost all of his spare time with throughout his immortal life, the one that was not more than three feet in front of him, was up in flames.
Bunny smelled blood.
He didn't need a legitimate reason to panic. All of his thoughts abruptly stopped and shifted to Jack, and that in and of istelf was more than enough to frighten the Pooka. The scent of Jack's fresh blood did him in. And the smell of smoke shortly after only heightened his worry.
"Jack!?" He shouted, hoping to get a response. Only the cackling sound of wood burning met his sensitive ears. Bunnymund followed the sound, sprinting as fast as his legs would go towards the dark smoke slowly rising from something deep inside the woods. "Jack!"
After what seemed like forever, which was really only a few seconds, Bunny finally made it to the origin of the smoke.
There was a large burning tree smack dab in the center of the clearing. And across from said tree, standing still as stone, was a paralyzed pale Jack, staring at the tree with a mortified expression but with empty eyes.
"Jack!" he hollered, pouncing in front of him worriedly in a desperate effort to get his attention. "Frostbite, wha' happened? Why are ya this close at the fire!? You're a winter spirit, ya gumby! 'S not good for ya!"
Bunny looked at Jack, awaiting a response and blissfully unaware of the sprite's fatal injury. Jack tore his gaze from the tree to Bunny, wide with fear and surprise, something that didn't suit him at all. His lips quivered and his voice was weak and shaky.
"…Bu…Bunny, m… my…" Jack looked down. Bunny followed suit, only to have his breath catch in his throat.
He wished that he was still back at the Pole having a nightmare. Seeing this in reality just about killed him. Bunny's mind reeled. His heart went numb. His mouth went dry. But he wasted no time. He had to keep control of himself, no matter how horrifying this was.
"Jack, this is gonna hurt jus' a pinch," Bunny spoke unsteadily.
Before Jack could protest, Bunnymund swiftly grabbed the handle of the weapon and yanked it out nimbly. A sharp, wretched cry of pain tore free from the winter spirit's throat and Jack weakly slid down against the tree, crumpling into himself in an effort to ease the pain, but only making it worse.
"It's alright, Jackie, ya gonna be okay," Bunny hushed calmly, despite the sick feeling in his stomach and the shakiness of his paws as he slid up Jack's bloodstained hoodie. He inspected the bleeding wound for a moment or two. The knife was carelessly thrown aside, its existence long forgotten. Bunny's ears twitched at the sound of the winter sprite's feeble sobbing and forced his tears back as he looked down at him. Jack's eyes were clenched shut and hot tears rolled down the sides of his face, merging with the sweat that rolled down his temple. The pooka felt the surging heat of the fire and deemed it best to move to a cooler location. He took the crying boy in his arms and stood up, tapping a rhythmic beat upon the bloodied earth below him and falling through into his Warren. He landed softly on the grass floor and shooed the unpainted eggs away, hurriedly making his way to the shady spot beneath one of the trees.
"Alrigh' Jackie, ya gonna be fine, but ya hafta stay strong, okay?" Bunny gently set Jack down on the ground. The rabbit took his paw and firmly pressed it against the open knife wound. Jack cried out at the dreadful throbbing as it returned tenfold, and gripped Bunny's wrist in an effort to pry it off. It didn't budge. "That hurts, Bunny!" he replied with a sob, clutching the wrist in his grasp even tighter.
Bunny's heart broke at the sight. "Ah know, ah know, but it'll be over soon, alrigh'? you're gonna be fine!"
Jack could only reply with a whimper.
The egglings surrounded the scene curiously while still giving their leader manageable room, for which Bunny was thankful. This wouldn't have been the first time his googies helped him out in an emergency. True, they didn't have arms, and they were always "under boot" as North would've called it, but they followed directions.
"Oi! You lot!" he motioned to the group of googies to his right, and they all lined up ready for orders. "Go get some bandages from North's place, and tell him-" He then remembered that, as helpful as they were, his egglings couldn't talk. He hissed. "Agh, damn it all! Jus' bring him too, ya hear?" he said loudly over Jack's sobbing.
One of the eggs nodded vigorously and tapped his foot, and the area of googies disappeared into the ground. He turned his attention to the eggs on his left. "An' you! Go get the supplies!" the egglings took off in different directions, all aiming for different items and tools throughout the warren. A small group of eggs stayed on-hand, should their leader need anything else.
With that out of the way, Bunny finally turned his attention to Jack, who had begun coughing due to the incessant crying. His face was contorted with agony and tears rapidly trailed down his cheeks, refusing to freeze until his body was the regular temperature again. "Hey, Jackie, lookame." Bunny coaxed for Jack to open his eyes. They were red and glassy and a bewildering bright blue. "I know it hurts, an' I hate ta break it to ya, but it's gonna get worse, and ya gotta stay awake, alright? No matter how bad it gets, cuz if ya drift off on me… there's a good chance I won't be able to get ya to come back around again. Alrigh?" He wished he could've informed the boy earlier, just so he'd have known the risks and the steps that had to be taken. When spirits were wounded by another spirit and fell asleep before it could be healed or taken care of properly, the body will return to that of a mortals instead of regenerating. After that, not only would Jack die, but so would his spirit; it would disappear.
"Bunny!" A loud, familiar voice boomed as it fell to the ground beside him. North got up and brushed the grass off of his pants. "Bunny! What is meaning of sending your eggs-?" He caught sight of Jack and went quiet "… Lord have mercy…"
"Get summa the bandages and the kit ova here!" Bunny repeated to a batch of egglings urgently.
North knelt down beside him. "Should we bring Jack to Pole?"
"He's been movin around to much already, mate! An' it's cooler down here than it is in your workshop!"
"Then what shall we do? I have never-"
"North, just trust me and do as I say!"
That was what Jack really didn't want to hear at the moment. "Ya gotta stay awake, alright? No matter how bad it gets, cuz if ya drift off on me… there's a good chance I won't be able to get ya to come back around again. Alrigh?" No. Not alright. Because at that moment, all he wanted to do was drift off and forget this ever happened. He wanted to wake up with Bunny in the room they fell asleep in and then force the yetis to make him breakfast. Maybe some eggs over easy with some jelly toast and a glass of milk. That sounded really good to him right now. Of course, anything sounded better than getting stabbed through the stomach with a knife.
Another wave of pain washed over him as Bunny's paw shifted slightly, and he let out another sob. He was going to make himself sick if he kept on crying like this, but at that point, he didn't really care. Maybe if he threw up on Bunny he would let go and let him sleep. Seemed legit.
Jack could no longer hear what Bunny was talking about, or who he was talking to. All he could hear was this distorted ringing sound, like a warning going off in the back of his head that told him "You could die tonight." His vision blurred, and everything was obscure and hazy. He didn't realize that he'd stopped crying, and he didn't realize that he was falling asleep until he heard a loud voice and felt something shaking him vigorously. "Jack! Come on, mate! Stay awake!"
While Jack usually would've been ticked off that someone was keeping him from his sleep, he suddenly remembered Bunny's words. There's a good chance I won't be able to get ya to come back around again. Jack blinked his eyes open and felt his consciousness slowly return to him, along with a cruel throbbing that refused to let up, and only got worse.
"Jack? Can ya hear me? What day is it, Jack?"
Jack let out a sardonic chuckle. "…How in the… hell should I know…?" The faces began to blur again.
"Alrigh, who's ya first believa? C'mon, you know that one, don't you?"
Jack had no idea what was going on, no idea what they were doing to him. But it was strange and painful, like a sudden stinging and then a tugging from under his skin. Jack was too scared to look and find out himself. "That's…Jamie Bennett, Cottontail."
"There we go," he went on to ask another question, but Jack no longer wanted to play this question game. His thoughts wavered and he felt another wave of tears coming on as he thought about the tree, which was probably long gone by now. Bunny said something to him about finally being finished, but it went unheard.
"My tree, Bunny…" he cried. "My tree's gone…"
Bunny's nose comfortingly nuzzled Jack's temple. "'S alright, Jackie." Bunny purred. "It's okay…"
Jack heard him say something else, but his voice faded away before he could finish, and the golden dreamsand lulled him to sleep. And he was in the air with the dolphins once again.
Author's Note: Yay blood : )
Haven't edited yet. Am in rush here, so PM me mistakes and I'll get on it. I called them egglings because it sounds bloody adorable in my mind. But that's just me. Speaking of adorable, that one car crash Jamie thingy is gonna be up on It Snows When It's Dark Out Too M Version soon, jus' so ya know. I still have to type it up from my notebook :) Enjoy it. Because it's very sad. (Most everyone: Oh hell no I ain't reading that! What kinda sick person would- *Goes off to read it*)
OH AND UM REVIEW PLEASE
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