Hiya Ladies and germs, I hope you liked the last chapter. It was a lot of work and, despite how long it took to write, it was worth it.
I'd also like to thank Obi for her continual support and helpful questions.
I know, short A/N.
The first thing Jack heard was a low murmur of voices. They wormed their way inside his head and circled around his mind, saying things that made no sense and things that made perfect sense, all at the same time.
"When?"
"Not long."
"We can't just-"
Go away! Jack screamed to the voices inside his head. They just would not go away!
He'd been listening to them for what seemed like hours. He was warm, and he was tired, and all he wanted to do was get a few months rest! Why couldn't the voices shut up for one minute?!
"-Jack Frost."
Jack groaned softly when he heard his name. Great. He rolled over to the left, trying to block the noises out, but it didn't do much.
"Shut it, will you?" said a sharp but quiet voice with a deep strange accent. "Can't you see you're bugging the poor kid?"
You certainly are! Jack thought angrily, rolling farther away. That was something else that was strange, the branch that he'd been sleeping on was unusually flat and wide, more like a bed than a branch. That brought his mind to another question: Why were the voices, if there were any voices, why were they sounding like they were a few feet away from him? He was sleeping on a branch, but they sounded like they were on his level, about a dozen feet away.
Huh. Weird. Jack tried to dismiss the strange thought for now, focusing on going back to sleep instead.
Unfortunately, the voices didn't have the same plan.
"Anything new yet?"
"No. They are still-"
"We don't have time for this!"
"Shut up!" Jack moaned, rolling over to the other side and burying his head under what he assumed was a pile of snow that had collected on his branch. It was light and soft, but it wasn't cold. Then Jack remembered he didn't feel the cold, and he resumed his partial sleep. For about a second.
"Jack? Jack, are you awake?"
Jack didn't answer. He didn't care if it was the president of the US, the Maharaja, or the Pope himself! He was... not... getting... up!
"Jack, if you're awake, speak to me mate. We need'ja here!"
Jack moaned again and buried his head further under the snow. "Bug off!" he murmured, lifting his hand momentarily to send a huge pile of snow down on the voices. Now, if he'd thought that one through for even a minute, then he wouldn't be hanging upside down by his ankles by a tall thing in a black cloak with a scythe and huge raven wings in the next.
"See Aster? I told you I'd get him up." the creepy dark-cloaked thing said in a deep, accented voice. Probably Jamaican.
"Grim! Put 'im down!" Bunny yelled, unsheathing his boomerangs and waving them threateningly at the creepy hooded thing.
Jack felt himself being yanked off of his branch. He opened his eyes wide, just in time to catch his world turning upside down. It made him feel sick. The blood was rushing through his head as he hung upside down and the lack of cold in the room wasn't helping much. All traces of sleepiness had been flushed from his mind. Being hung upside down can do that to a person.
Jack hung there, too surprised to move or even speak, for at least a minute while Bunny tried to reason with the creepy cloaked thing. After that minute, when Jack finally got control of his functions, he thought about what to say. It might've been the blood rushing to his head, or it might just've been the situation. Well, whatever it was, Jack said the first thing that came to mind:
"Yeah Grim, put 'im down!" Jack said, goofily trying to imitate Bunny's accent. He was a complete idiot sometimes.
"Your wish is my command," the tall dark thing said and before Jack could say, "You're a Genii?" he dropped the winter spirit on his head.
"Ow!" Jack said, sitting up and rubbing his head. Being dropped onto stone head-first really did hurt.
"Jack! Grim, I thought we agreed-!" Bunny said, rushing to the winter spirit's side and helping him up quickly.
"Yes yes, we're all here under flag of truce, or whatever." the tall dark thing, now known as Grim, said. Jack looked up at the towering figure and tried to see inside his hood, but it was too dark. All he could see were two faint red lights, deep within the cloak.
As Jack stood up, he tried to get things straight in his mind: One minute he'd been asleep on his branch, the next he'd been strung upside down and dropped on his head. No doubt this would provide Bunny with numerous jokes in the near future, but right now he had other things to worry about. Like why he was here and who the heck were all these people?
His head really hurt, and he could feel several sets of eyes trained on him. It made him feel uncomfortable. He could feel bunny's strong arms holding him upright and he could sense the weakness in his own legs.
"Bunny, I'm fine," Jack said, falling back on his bed with a thud the second Bunny let go of him. So it had been a bed, not a branch. And the stuff he'd previously thought was snow was probably the shredded pillow and feathers that littered the top part of his bed. Huh. No wonder they weren't cold. Then again, he probably wouldn't have felt them anyway.
"Jack, do you remember?" Bunny said carefully, sitting down on Jack's bed beside him gently and taking the teen's hands in his own furry paws.
"Remember?" Jack said, frowning. Then in a flash, it all came back to him. A huge golden eye. Feathers. A girl that looked like a ghost. Flying. They'd taken him to the North Pole. Why? He'd been so comfortable on his branch.
The pain.
Now he remembered. The excruciating pain. That was the reason they'd brought him to North's workshop. But, where was North?
For that matter, where were Tooth and Sandy?
Jack raised his head and looked around the room. He couldn't see them. Just the big guy in the cloak, Bunny, and a few other people he might recognized, once his world stopped spinning.
"I remember," Jack said, nodding carefully. Of course, that just sent his world spinning again and he moaned in pain.
"Jack? You OK, mate?" Bunny asked, patting the teen gently on the shoulder.
Jack chuckled and decided to reply in his natural way. Snarkily. He looked up into Bunny's wide, green eyes, moving his head slowly so that it wouldn't disturb his pounding migraine.
"Don't look at me like that, Kangaroo." Jack teased. "Someone might get the impression you care!"
Bunny's eyes shrunk back to their normal size and he glowered. "Yeah, you're fine." he decided, standing up and moving a few steps backward from the bed. Jack cracked a grin. What did Bunny expect? That he'd break down crying because of a rare moment of compassion shown to him by the Easter Kangaroo? NAH!
"Well, I would be, if my head would just come out of warp drive for a minute!" Jack said crossly, rubbing his temples. "Honestly, I didn't know spirits got headaches."
Bunny smirked. "What do you think you are to me, Frosty? A headache, a thorn in my side, a pain in my-"
"Oh shut it Kangaroo." Jack said, tapping the ground with his foot. Instantly the ground where Bunny was standing became slick with ice and Bunny had to grab onto something to stop himself from falling. Unfortunately, that something was the tall creepy guy's cloak.
"Aster, let go of me." the tall creepy guy with no face said coldly.
Bunny looked and saw that he was clutching the cloak like a frightened child and hastily let go, brushing invisible dust off himself and looking anywhere but at the tall creepy guy.
"OK, now that I've fulfilled my quota for teasing Bunny for the hour, " Jack said looking around slowly. "You guys wanna tell me why I'm here?"
He caught site of two figures behind the tall guy and he craned his neck to try and see who it was, but the tall guy's wings?! blocked them.
"You are here because we have need of you, Jack Frost" the tall creepy dude known to us as Grim, said, stepping forward.
Jack's eyes blurred as he tried to focus on Grim's hood. It was black, and deep and gaping. Think the longest well on earth, plus the longest cave on earth. It was like falling into a void. The hood was huge and made of black material that seemed to repel what light there was in this tiny cramped room. Jack tried to see a face, but there was nothing. Although he could just barely make out a pair of red glowing lights, deep within the hood. Eyes?
Then Jack realized Grim was talking and he snapped out of his transfixed state.
"-there is not much time left."
"Huh? I'm sorry, what?"
Jack could feel the glowing lights focus on him and he could practically hear the contempt in his voice, which was deep and rhythmical, like a drum beat, and with his thick Jamaican accent, it nearly made Jack quake with fear. This guy made Pitch seem like a rank amateur!
"You have a short attention span, young Guardian, so I will try to say this as quickly as I can: Something has happened and we have called all the spirits of this world and a few others, to figure out what's going on. The situation is being contained, but we need the rest of the Guardians awake and well, including you." the eyes in Grim's hood glowed and Jack had the distinct impression that he was glowering at him.
"So what do you need me for?"
Grim let out a low breath that sounded like moaning. "You are the Guardian who has had the most experience with Pitch Black." he said slowly. "And our situation is centered around that second-rate fear-spirit."
Jack furrowed his eyebrows. "What has Pitch done now?"
"I'm afraid that we can't explain completely until the other Guardians are awake." Grim said.
Jack pouted. "Why not?" he whined.
Bunny whacked Jack on the back of his head. "Jack, the discussion's closed." hesaid.
Jack folded his arms and pouted again. "Fine." he mumbled.
Bunny smiled.
"None of the others are awake, actually." Grim said. "Not Toothiana, not Sanderson, nor North-"
He was cut off by Jack, who was giggling to himself. He understood things were bad and serious, but he also knew that people who stayed serious in situations like this were normally sticks in the mud. So Jack decided to try and make light of the situation with the only jokes he had on hand.
"He he. You just rhymed."
Bunny looked from Jack to Grim, then back at Jack. "If he's gone loopy from that drop you gave him," the rabbit warned, "You're gonna have'ta pay for the medical bills to fix his cranium."
Grimm glowered at the boy, then he turned to Bunny. "There should be no permanent damage. I suspect this is just his normal state of being. An obnoxious, loud, arrogant teenager."
"And hellion!" Jack said happily, raising his first finger. "Don't forget mischievous hellion!"
Grim turned his hood towards Jack, looked at him for a long time- or at least, that's what Jack assumed, since he couldn't see his face, then he turned to Bunny.
"Point taken." Bunny conceded.
Grim was about to start up again on a doom and gloom path, but Jack had other intentions. He was feeling a bit better after his world had stopped spinning, and he felt almost back to his old self again. And, as Jack would normally, do, he decided to have a little fun.
There were other people in the room. Jack just hadn't noticed them. One of them, whom he recognized immediately, was a tall woman in an elegant green dress that shimmered, even in the lack of light, casting green patterns on the walls, like a pool with the lights on. She had startling bright green eyes, like Bunny, and had numerous tattoos curling up and down her hands and arms
"Mother Earth!" Jack said, jumping up and taking an exaggerated bow. He always did this in his boss's presence, just to annoy her. "Good day to you! How's the goddessing going? You read any good plant magazines?"
Grim stopped in mid-sentence and glowered, or Jack assumed it was a glower, at him.
Bunny was seriously starting to wonder if he should just peg Jack with a dream-sand ball until he calmed down, otherwise he was likely to tick off everyone.
The green woman stepped forward and surveyed the boy. "Frost." Gaia said coolly, inclining her head. She'd always admired the winter spirit for his independence and creativity, at least when he did the frost drawings on the windows. When he messed with spring by sending blizzards, then she didn't want to hear his name for a month afterward!
Jack smiled widely.
"At your service, Madam."
Gaia bit back a laugh. "Since when are you at anyone's service? You are a rogue, Jack. A rogue and a havoc-wreaker and the laziest spirit I've ever encountered!"
Jack's eyes widened. "Really? Why, thank you! That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me!"
Bunny groaned. Sarcasm was lost among most spirits.
"Yes, it probably was."
Although Gaia wasn't one of them.
Jack looked around again, catching sight of another pair of figures behind Gaia.
"Hello?" he said, waving. "Anyone there?"
Grim and Gaia moved to the side and a tall man in glimmering golden robes stepped forward. He had a golden beard and bright blue eyes, brighter even that Jack's! His face was round and pale, and he had a pair of golden-rimmed oval designer glasses perched on his nose.
"Let me guess, Sandy's older brother?" Jack said, smiling.
The man chuckled goodnaturedly and gave a small bow. "Not really. Sanderson is a good friend of mine, though we aren't related. My name is Ferthermore Tyme. You can call me Father Time."
Jack's eyes widened. "You are Father Time!" he said, gaping. The man smiled.
"Not what you expected?" he asked, smiling.
Jack shook his head. "No, actually this was what I was expecting. Not the designer glasses, but other than that..."
Father Time chuckled again. "Yes, my eyes have gotten a little dim of late. Believe me, I used to prefer my old pair of half-moon glasses with silver rims, but when I visited people they kept calling me Dumbledore. I hadn't the faintest idea what that was about."
Jack chuckled, having seen those movies on more than one occasion with Jamie. He'd actually seen the last movie in theaters with Jamie and Sophie the day it had come out! Believe it or not, Sophie really liked it and she laughed and clapped throughout the entire thing.
"It's quite understandable." Jack said. "Maybe North can send you those movies next Christmas."
Father Time nodded thoughtfully. "He might. He might."
Jack smiled and looked around the room again. "So, we've got Mother Earth-"
"Gaia!" Gaia snapped.
Jack winked at her. "Father Time, and a tall dude in a creepy black cloak with crow wings." he turned to Bunny with a bright glint in his eyes. "Don't tell me this is the rest of the spirit world."
Bunny winced at the "creepy black cloak" comment and tried to tell Jack to shut his mouth, without actual talking.
The other spirits stood in silence for a moment, then Grim let out a deep rumbling laugh. "Forgive me," he said, stepping towards Jack. "I should have introduced myself by now."
Bunny took a step backward but Jack stayed firmly frozen to the spot, (no pun intended,) staring up into Grim's hood defiantly. He'd taken down a whole army of Nightmares. How bad could one dude in a cloak be?
"I am Thanatos, God of Death. The Grim Reaper and Soul-harvester." Jack felt his blood run cold, (again, no pun intended,) as he watched a huge black scythe form in Grim's right hand and his huge black raven wings unfurl from his back. The cloak rippled around him, moved by an invisible wind.
Jack knew then just how stupid he'd been. He'd ticked off Death! There had to be repercussions for that. He looked into Grim's black hood and gulped. Pitch was nothing, he realized. Nothing to this! This was someone who could really instill fear and terror, because he certainly did in Jack!
"Thanatos," Father Time said, putting a pale hand on the God of Death's shoulder. "That's enough. The boy didn't mean any harm by his words."
Thanatos glanced over his shoulder at the man in gold, then he lowered his scythe. "Very well. But be warned, boy." he said, turning back to Jack. "The next time you insult me will be the last."
Jack nodded mutely, and with a final nod to Bunnymund Grim departed the room, turning into a flock of black ravens and disappeared through an open window.
Father Time chuckled again. "What a drama queen." then he turned to Bunny. "He'll be back. I'm going downstairs to make sure there aren't any fights breaking out." he turned to Jack and gave him a small wink. "In the mean time, try not to annoy any more spirits. I might not be there the next time."
Jack nodded, still trying to work up how to speak again.
Bunny smiled and bowed slightly. "Alright then. Me and Jack'll be down in a second, once I get some things straight with 'im."
Jack didn't like how that sounded.
"Will you accompany me, Gaia?" Father Time asked, offering his arm to the woman in green.
Gaia glanced at Bunnymund, then nodded. "Yes, please. There's absolutely no natural light in here and it's making my leaves mildew." she gestured to the patterns on her arms that Jack had previously thought were tattoos. Now he saw that they were actual leaves, growing on her skin.
"Very well then." Father Time said, and they both disappeared in a flurry of golden sparks and flower petals.
Once he was sure they were gone, Bunny turned to Jack and grabbed his arms tightly. "Are... you.. insane mate?!" he said angrily, breaking Jack out of the transfixed state he'd been in while looking into Grim's hood.
"Bunny, wha-"
"You just insulted Death, Jack! It's a bloody big deal!"
Jack winced. "Oh, yeah. I'm sorry about that. I just got kind of-"
"Carried away?" Bunny asked, letting go of his arms and sitting down on Jack's bed with a thump.
Jack nodded, bracing himself for a lecture.
It didn't come.
"It's alright, Jack. I shouldn't have had them in here in the first place." Bunny said, looking down at his feet.
Jack smiled. "Hey, Bunny, it's OK."
Bunny smiled. "Good. Now, before I take ya downstairs, there's a few things we have to go over."
"Yeah," Jack said. "Like where the heck is Tooth and the others?"
"Tooth is in a room downstairs with North. Him and Sandy are still asleep and, between you and me," hesaid, holding up a paw to cover his mouth. "I think that, with anything short of a sonic warhead or a sound grenade, Sandy's gonna stay conked out."
Jack smirked. "Yeah, most likely. So, what was Father Time talking about, other spirits?"
Bunny's eyes widened as he remembered something. "Um. . . Jack? I think you might wanna stay here for a while."
Jack frowned. "Why?"
Bunny coughed. "There are a couple people down there that might not be all that pleased to see you."
Jack smirked. "Meh. Hardly anyone is ever pleased to see me."
Bunny sighed. "That's true," he admitted.
"So who's down there?" Jack asked.
"Oh. . ." Bunny said, trying to play for time. "Just a few people."
Jack cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "Their names?"
Bunny got fidgety and he looked down at his feet. "Well. . . uh. . ."
Jack sighed. "Jut tell me, rabbit."
Bunny sighed mightily, then he finally raised his head. "Everybody."
Jack blinked. "Everybody?"
"Everybody." the rabbit replied, nodding. "Every single spirit on this earth and several more."
Jack whistled.
"Yeah."
"So. . ." Jack said slowly. "What were those things you wanted to go over with me?" He caught Bunny's eyes and said quickly, "I'm only doing this for diplomatic reasons. We should all respect our fellow spirits."
Bunny snorted.
"Well, except for Death. He's an ass."
Bunny's eyes went wide and, from beneath the bed a deep male voice with a pronounced Jamaican accent said, "I heard that."
XXXXXXXXXX
Twenty minutes later, after Jack had gotten a quick run-down on how not to tick off other spirits and a mighty telling-off for saying that Death was an ass, Jack and Bunny made their way downstairs and Jack saw a small crowd of people milling about the vast workshop.
"Now listen," Bunny warned as they began to move through the smattering of people. "If someone looks at you funny, or does anything to insult you or bug you, just ignore them, alright? There's people in here that are really touchy about everything from their clothes to their claws, so don't make any personal remarks. Got it?"
Jack nodded, taking in the thirty-odd spirits. Oddly enough, they all looked human.
"Uh, Bunny, I don't see any claws." Jack muttered to the fidgety rabbit.
"Don't worry. You will." Bunny muttered back.
Jack shrugged and tried to tune into the conversations going on around him.
"I just want to know where North and Toothiana are," a giant man tanned man with the lower body of a spider said to a tall girl with pink feathered wings.
"Why just North and Toothiana?" the girl asked in a high-pitched squeaky voice.
"I don't much care for the rabbit." the spider replied, "And Sanderson stays out of my way on principle. He dislikes spiders."
"I hope there's food," a short woman in a pair of green pants and a green t-shirt said. She had a shock of orange hair that was pulled up in a ponytail and Jack instantly assumed this was the Leprechaun.
"It's far too cold in here," said a small brown creature that Jack thought was a mole. "I don't know how North stands it!"
"He likes the cold," Rasped a hunched man with greyish skin and pointy ears. Jack looked closer and saw his first set of claws. Gargoyle, he thought.
"When will Father come back?" said a medium-sized woman in a rainbow shimmering dress. "He is the one who called us all here, is he not?"
"Patience Irisssss," said a man who hissed like a snake. "Use your imagination."
This brought out a bout of laughter that Jack did not understand and he turned away to ask Bunny, but before he could a loud voice spoke.
"Aster!" a loud voice boomed behind them. Both Jack and Bunny jumped a good three inches in the air and they spun around, looking for the person who's called Bunny's name.
"Aster, over here!" the voice said again and Jack could see a pale white hand waving at them over the crowd.
Bunny smiled. "Come on, Jack. I think you should meet this guy." he grabbed Jack's staff and pulled him through the crowd until they reached the area where they'd seen the hand.
"Aster, it's been a long time. We didn't get to talk much before," the voice said and Jack turned around to see an incredibly tall, thin man in a black suite and spider tie moving towards them. Actually, incredibly tall was a bit of an understatement. This guy had to be eight feet tall, at least!
"Hello again Jack," Bunny said uneasily as the man came to a stop in front of them.
Jack stared at the man in amazement. This wasn't a man at all! It was a skeleton! A walking, talking skeleton with a skull for a head and bone fingers. His sockets were empty black holes and he had a large grin on his face.
"Good to see you again, Aster!" the skeleton said, bending down to hug the rabbit. Bunny stiffened and awkwardly patted the skeleton's shoulder. "How's the hunt going so far?" the skeleton asked Bunny when he released him. He didn't seem to notice Jack.
"Oh, Arachne's confident." Bunny said. Jack frowned, wondering what the rabbit was talking about. "And if her kids can't find him, then Gaia's ravens are waiting in the wings."
The skeleton laughed. It was a strange sort of laugh. Scary, and happy, all at the same time. "I love spiders. Very useful creatures, though I have a feeling that they won't be able to catch our friend Mr. Black. Pitch has an extraordinary history of sneaking into shadows and disappearing, remember?"
Bunny cracked a forced grin. "I remember." He said.
Something seemed to telepathically pass between the two because the skeleton nodded and an expression that could be described as sadness passed over his face. He raised a long hand and put it on the rabbit's shoulder. "I'm sorry Aster," he said gently. "We'll find him and when we do, we'll straighten out this whole mess."
Bunny bowed is head and- was it Jack's imagination? No, a real tear dripped down his nose. "Where's Sally?" he asked.
The skeleton let go of Bunny's shoulder and said. "Oh she's here somewhere. Sally! Sally?" he said, turning around and peering over the heads of the crowd.
"Jack, I'm right here, dear."
Jack turned around, wondering why everyone kept calling his name, and saw one of the strangest sights he'd ever seen in his three hundred years as a spirit.
It was a young woman, wearing a patchwork orange and black dress that came up to just above her ankles. Her skin was greyish-blue, like faded fabric, and there were strange lines tattooed all over her skin. She had a small mouth and bright eyes, and as she came closer Jack could see the individual tattoos all across her face and arms and hands.
No, not tattoos. Stitches!
He gaped as she walked over to the skeleton and he bent down to kiss her. "There you are, Sally dear." the skeleton said. "Aster was wondering where you were."
The woman looked at Bunny and gave a surprised laugh. "Aster! It's good to see you again," she said, reaching out and giving Bunny a hug. Boy these people were feely.
Jack just stood there, leaning on his staff awkwardly. Who were these people? A tall skeleton and a woman that had stitches in her skin like a rag-doll? He'd never heard of these spirits before.
"Yes, we didn't get much of a chance to talk. My dramatic husband." she shot the skeleton a look and two pink circles appeared on the bones of his cheeks.
"Ahem, yes Sally." the skeleton said, looking flustered.
"Yeah Skellington, I've been meaning to apologize about that little spat," Bunny said, surprising both the couple and Jack, who had never heard Bunny apologize to anyone before. "It was over thirty years ago, after all."
The skeleton didn't move for several minutes, then his skull broke into a wide smile.
"Yes Aster, it is time we make up." he said, wrapping his thin arm around the rabbit once more. This time Bunny didn't close his eyes.
"Yeah," he said. "A bunch of little squabbles between the spirits will only make things more difficult to find Pitch."
Jack was confused. Obviously these two used to be enemies and now they were friends, just like that? Seemed more like Bunny just wanted it to be swept under the rug, whatever it was, rather than forgiven.
"Don't I get a make-up hug?" the woman named Sally demanded, but Jack could see a joke twinkling in her felt eye.
"Of course, Sally-girl." Bunny said, letting go of the skeleton and embracing the woman made of cloth.
"Oh Aster," Sally said gently when his furry arms around her shoulders. "I can't imagine how painful it must be for you and the other Guardians. How're you holding up?"
"I'm doing good, Sally-girl." Bunny patted her on the back. "And I've told'ja a million times," he said, releasing her but still holding her at arm's length. "Call me Bunny. I hate me first name."
Sally laughed. "Alright, Bunny." she said, giggling a little bit. Then she caught sight of Jack standing awkwardly behind him and said, "And who's this?"
Bunny turned around and put a furry forearm around Jack's shoulders. "This here," he said, steering jack forward. "Is Jack Frost. Jack, meet the Pumpkin King himself, Jack Skellington." Jack Skellington moved forward and bent down to shake Jack's hand.
"Absolutely delighted!" he said. Jack felt cold bone hands curl around his own and he numbly shook, keeping his eyes down. Otherwise he was sure he'd start to stare at the empty sockets in Jack Skellington's head.
"Yeah. Same." Jack said. Jack Skellington released his hand and smiled warmly down at him. Or, at least, Jack thought it was warmly. The skeleton's features were barely readable.
"And his lovely wife, Sally." Bunny finished, pointing to the rag-doll woman.
"Hello," she said, reaching out and taking Jack's hand. Jack was surprised so much when he took it that he nearly snatched it back. Her hand was made of felt! Cloth! And the stitches were blue string! This woman was a rag doll.
Evidently she could tell he was a little confused and curious, because she smiled and let go of his hand. "You don't have to if you don't want to."
Jack felt a small blush creep into his cheeks and Sally laughed again. "It's alright, Jack. Believe me, I've met plenty of spirits who don't want to touch me."
Jack was about to protest, but his reply died in his throat and he just stood there awkwardly.
Bunny laughed. "Yes, Jack. Sally here is made out of cloth and stuffed with leaves." he said. Sally pulled at one of the threads that attached her wrist to her arm and the hand came off! It dropped to the floor and moved towards him, crab-like. Jack stared in wonder at it. This woman could detach her limbs?
"It's pretty strange," Sally admitted. "I was sown together in a lab, and it's true. I am stuffed with leaves." she said, showing Jack her arm. Jack flinched, expecting something nasty, but when he saw that there was nothing but a few oak tree leaves sticking out, he took a step forward and stared in awe.
"Wow. That is so cool!" he said. Then he felt a tapping on his bare foot and looked down to see Sally's fallen hand next to his left foot.
"Oh, do pick that up for me, would you Jack?" Sally asked, gesturing at her hand.
Jack Skellington moved to pick it up and Jack said, "I've got it." he bent down and looked at the hand, then he laid out his own hand flat and the pale blue hand climbed on.
Jack straightened up again and passed the hand to Jack Skellington, who held onto the fingers while Sally reached behind her ear and withdrew a bundle of blue thread and a needle.
In a matter of seconds she was stitched up and Jack was smiling at them. "Wow. That is really cool!" he said again, watching as Sally flexed her hand experimentally.
"It is rather special," Sally said, blushing slightly. "Not as special as Jack's talents, though. Go on, show them dear." she said, patting Jack Skellington's shoulder. It was a miracle she could reach it. Jack Skellington was a giant!
Jack Skellington smiled at his wife and said, "Oh, alright." then he reached up with both hands and pulled off his head!
Jack's jaw dropped as he watched Jack Skellington's head smile at him and say, "Cool huh? Since I am dead, I can take off my head!"
Sally beamed and she whispered something to the detached head.
"Ah, what a good idea, Sally!" Jack's head said, smiling. "You might want to step back a bit," he advised Bunny and Jack.
Jack and Bunny took a few steps back and Jack Skellington cleared his throat. Of what, Jack wasn't sure.
"Watch closely," he said. And Jack began to toss his head back and forth, from bony hand to bony hand. Jack followed the head with his eyes carefully.
After about a minute, Jack Skellington tossed his head to his right hand and kept throwing it up in place, while he reached into his suite and pulled out what Jack assumed was a rib bone.
Then Jack began to juggle them. After a minute, another rib joined in; and a minute later, a leg bone. Soon there was nothing left of Jack Skellington but an empty suite, standing there and his hands, juggling his own bones. Then Jack's head let out a laugh and he threw his bones up into the air. Then, as Jack watched them fall back down, all his bones fell back into the suite perfectly, with Jack's head topping it all off and falling last. Then Jack Skellington gave an elegant bow.
"Wow!" Jack said. His eyes were wide. "That was really cool!"
"Thank you." Jack Skellington said, smiling.
"But how did you keep 'em from falling?" Bunny asked. His eyes were almost as wide as Jack's.
Jack Skellington laughed. "Well, they're a part of me, so I just tell me not to fall!" he said, putting an arm around his wife.
Bunny appraised the two with a wide smile. Obviously whatever had been troubling him had been pushed to the back of his mind for the moment. "So," he said, looking from the rag-doll woman to the skeleton. "You said you two were married. Where'd you go for the Honeymoon?"
Sally raised her right hand and gazed at her ring fondly. "Oh we had a lovely honeymoon in the Black Forest," she said. "We met so many wonderful people, and we even took pictures!" she said, pulling some pieces of paper out of somewhere and passing them to Bunny.
Jack leaned over and saw Jack and Sally, hanging upside down on a tree branch, beside a bunch of dark shape that looked like bats.
"Vampires." Bunny whispered.
Jack's eyes widened. "You know vampires?" he said, staring at Jack and Sally.
Jack Skellington nodded and laughed. "We live in Halloween town, young man. All the most horrible creatures in the world live there." he said, winking at Jack.
Jack's eyes widened another notch. "You mean like Witches? Demons? Werewolves?"
Jack Skellington and Sally nodded. "Yes, that and so much more." Sally said.
Jack's eyes had reached dinner-plate proportions and Jack Skellington laughed. "Aster, I think your young friend is trying to achieve telescopic sight." he commented.
"Ha ha." Jack said.
They stood in silence for a bit, then Jack asked something that had been nagging him for a while now.
"How the heck do you all know each other?" he asked, turning to Jack Skellington.
Jack, Sally and Bunny all laughed. "All spirits know each other, Jack." Sally said.
"But Aster and North and I go way back," Jack Skellington interjected. "I made a slight mistake a few decades ago and that mistake led me to meet Aster and-"
Bunny made a polite cough. "Ahem, Skellington?"
Jack's bone cheeks turned that pinkish shade once more. "Well, met is a bit of an exaggeration." he admitted.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Really? What happened?"
"My dear sweet husband," Sally said, putting a delicate but firm hand on said husband's shoulder and squeezing, "Misinterpreted a sign from Manny and kidnapped Aster first, then North. But he let them go," she said quickly, noticing the look of astonishment on Jack's face.
"You kidnapped him?" he said incredulously, staring at Jack Skellington.
Jack Skellington sighed. "Well it wasn't me, actually." he said.
"No, it was those three freaky kids." Bunny muttered, looking at his feet. "But we did decide to forgive and forget, so I'm going to do just that. Any new news about-"
"No, no," Jack said quickly. "I wanna hear about this! What three kids?"
"Lock!"
"Stock!"
"Barrel!"
Three voices said from behind them. They all jumped, even Jack and Sally, and turned to face the three Halloween hellions.
Jack stared. They were kids, barely older than Jamie, and they wore really elaborate costumes. A devil, a witch, and a Skeleton. Their faces were too covered with makeup to see what they actually looked like, but he could see they were ugly little shrimps.
"Ah, children," Jack Skellington said, bending down and engulfing them in a hug. "Glad you could come."
Bunny however, squeaked in fright and jumped behind Jack. "Don't let them come near me!" he whimpered. "Please, Jack, keep them away!"
Jack stared at the Bunny over his shoulder and looked back at the kids, who were staring at him. He felt a chill go up his spine, and that wasn't easy to do!
"What's so bad about these three?" he muttered to Bunny over his shoulder.
As if in response the three kids started singing quietly, but just loud enough for Jack to hear them.
"Kidnap the Bunnymund, lock him in a chest. Bury him for twenty years, 'cause we are the best."
Jack shuddered. "I take it back. I get it completely."
Lock Stock and Barrel laughed evilly and ran off, still singing. "Kidnap the Bunnymund, bury him aground. Mr. Oogie Boogieman sure will be so proud!"
Jack Skellington beamed and Bunny cowered behind Jack until they were swallowed up by the throngs of people.
"Well that was weird," Jack stated, turning back to Bunny. "I take it you all know each other?"
"Oh yes," Bunny said, clasping his paws behind his back. "Those three were the ones who kidnapped me and North, on Skellington's orders. North nearly got turned into mulch by Oogie Boogie!"
Jack frowned. "Wait, Oogie Boogie? Do those creeps work for Pitch too?"
Jack Skellington seemed to take offense at the 'creeps' comment and folded his arms. "Those... 'creeps' as you call them, used to work for a highly unlikable person who lived in my town named Oogie Boogie. He's dead now, thank goodness."
"Yes, he tried to kill me and Sandy Cl- I mean North." Sally said, bowing her head slightly. "And those kids used to work for him, it's true."
"But now they're rehabilitated!" Jack Skellington said happily, unfolding his arms and clapping his skeleton hands. "Me and Sal adopted them. They live with us now, in my castle. Much better accommodations than that awful house they used to live in."
Bunny's eyes were popping out of his head. "You adopted them?!" he said incredulously.
"Indeed we did, Aster." Jack Skellington said. "Why? Is it so hard to believe they've gone good?"
Bunny snorted. "Jack, those three are the original Trick or Treaters. They're born to cause havoc and mayhem!"
"They've been rehabilitated!" Jack protested.
"Boys boys," Sally said, putting a cloth hand on each shoulder. The two were glaring down their noses at each other. Jack found it amusing that they were trying to do that because one, Jack Skellington didn't have a nose and two, Bunny' nose was flat and pointy, like a box edge. Good luck looking down that at anyone, Jack thought.
"There's no need to pick up right at where we left off after Christmas." Sally said tersely, looking from her husband to the rabbit.
Jack bowed his skull. "You're right. I apologize, Aster. Like you said, start again anew, right?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry Sally-girl." Bunny said, holding out a paw. Skellington shook it and in five minutes they were smiling again. Jack and Sally shared a wink.
"So, Jack," Sally said, trying to steer clear of the kidnapping incident as much as possible. "I hear you're the newest Guardians, is that right?"
Jack felt a light frosting of snow grow on his slightly pink cheeks. "Yeah." he said, looking down.
"Ah!" Jack Skellington said. "Well congratulations my boy! Being a Guardian is a great honor."
Jack blushed a bit harder and the frost became solid, like a mask over his cheeks.
"Will you look at that! You actually got the old snowman blushin'!" Bunny said, laughing and rumpling Jack's hair.
"Oh lay off!" Jack said, pushing the hand away.
"No really," Sally said, smiling. "It's a great honor. What are you the Guardian of?"
"Fun." Jack mumbled.
"Fun? Well, that is interesting." Sally said.
Jack raised his head. "Why?"
"Well, fun interlaces with just about every other job we spirits do," Sally said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Take your holiday, Bunny, for instance. What do the children feel, apart from hope, on Easter day? What do they have the most of?"
Bunny smiled. "Why, fun of course."
"Exactly!" Sally said. "They have fun tromping through fields and forests, searching for beautiful eggs and hidden goodies."
Jack smiled. "That's true," he admitted.
"And on Halloween," Sally continued. "The children have fun being scared by silly costumes and going door to door, asking for sweets."
Jack was beginning to really like Sally.
"And on Christmas, when they unwrap the toys, afterwards they have fun playing with them, and on new years they have fun lighting up fireworks and on the fourth of July the same,"
"What about the people who don't have holiday jobs?" Jack asked.
Sally smiled. "That's a very good point, Jack. I imagine that, since they are doing a job that they love, they are always having fun. Haven't you ever heard the phrase, 'if you get a job that you love, you'll never work a day in your life'?"
Jack nodded.
"Well, that's what I mean." Sally said. "You, Toothy and Sandy are all spirits with no holiday, but you do your jobs each time they are needed and you have fun doing them."
Jack nodded again. "That's true!" he said happily.
Sally folded her arms in triumph and Jack Skellington wrapped his other arm around her shoulders. "My wise wife," he said fondly, leaning his head against her cloth neck gently.
Jack looked down, afraid they were going to kiss!
Bunny laughed. "Oi you two, there is a kid present." he said, chucking Jack on the shoulder.
Jack and Sally snapped out of it and both gave sheepish smiles. "He he. Sorry Aster." Jack said, the two pink circles prominent on his cheek bones once again.
"So," Jack said, trying to ease the conversation back onto a track he was familiar with. "What's the big deal about Pitch? Has he killed someone this time?"
The second the words left his lips all three spirits froze, staring at him.
Jack grinned nervously. "What? Did I say something wrong?" he said, looking from the somber cloth-woman to the downcast rabbit, to the impassive skeleton.
They all stayed silent, only giving each other strange looks that conveyed more than Jack understood.
Jack caught Sally giving him a look of pity and his eyes widened. "Oh no," he whispered. "Who was it? Was it Jamie? I swear if that shadow-freak has harmed even one hair on his head, I'm gonna-"
"Jack," Bunny said loudly, cutting through the boy's rantings.
Jack stopped.
"It wasn't Jamie." the rabbit said, all traces of happiness gone from his eyes and face.
"Then who was it? Monty? Cupcake? Pippa?" Jack demanded, naming the kids who had helped them stand up to Pitch a few years ago. "Was it one of the twins?"
"No, none of them." Bunny said. "It looks like just some random girl that none of us know. Baby Tooth has been instructed to find a tooth container to see if any of us recognize her."
Jack let the butt of his staff drop to the floor and he had to lean on the crook to stop himself from falling over. Pitch had killed a child? A little girl? He'd thought the Boogeyman was pretty twisted but he'd never imagined him killing an innocent little girl!
"What happened?" he finally asked Bunny, trying to keep his voice cold. It wasn't hard.
Bunny sighed and said, "Jack, Sally, would you excuse us?"
The two nodded and walked away. Jack could hear Sally's voice fading as they headed out of what they thought was his earshot. "Poor boy. I hope Jack will be alright."
"He'll be fine, Sally." Jack Skellington reassured her. "Bunny will tell him. And now that Arachne's on Pitch's trail there's nowhere he can hide. He'll be found and this whole thing will be resolved."
"Yes, I suppose." Sally said. Then right before they were swallowed up by the chattering crowd she said, "I hope that little girl didn't suffer."
With those words ringing in his ears, Jack Frost turned back towards the rabbit and was astounded to see a real tear rolling off the rabbit's nose.
"Bunny?" Jack asked gently.
"Come with me Jack," Bunny said in a voice so choked with emotion that he could barely understand him. "Back up to your room."
They made it up the long flight of stairs and into Jack's room where they both sat down on the bed.
"Jack," Bunny began after a few minutes silence. "We don't know too many of the specifics. All we know is a child was killed and Pitch was there. Thanatos was there too and he says that Pitch killed the girl, but he didn't mean to. "
Jack was silent.
"That was that awful feeling we all got, the girl dying. We're more closely connected to the children of the world and it affected us more than the others, it seems. They all just got a short nasty twinge and then they were fine, but now we're trying to find Pitch and clear this all up."
Jack was still silent.
"Jack?"
"What do you think?" Jack asked hoarsely. "Do you think he killed her?"
Bunny bowed his head. "I have no idea." he said. "I don't believe Pitch would stoop so low as to take a life, just for fear,"
"He tried to kill Sandy," Jack reminded him.
"Yeah, but that was different." Bunny said. "This time, he's killed a child and that has never happened before in the spirit world. Killing an adult carries the strictest penalties and, to my knowledge, only a handful have died by a spirit's hand over the years, but there has never been a child's death by the hands of a spirit."
Jack nodded. "But do you think he did it Bunny?"
Bunny dropped his head into his hands. "I dunno mate," he said. "Toothy doesn't believe that he did it on purpose and Father Time agrees, but there's no proof other than Thanatos's word that he did it or didn't do it on purpose."
"Bunny,"
"I'm sorry Jack, I just don't know!" Bunny said exasperatedly, throwing his paws up in the air. "Pitch is. . ." he paused, thinking.
"A monster?"
Bunny inclined his head. "Yes, but he's also been alone for at least eight thousand years or more. That can make a person bitter."
"So now you're defending him?" Jack said, completely blown away. Bunny hated Pitch! Yet here he was, defending him.
"I'm not defending him!" Bunny said angrily. "I'm just saying that being lonely and alone can change a person. You and I both know that, don't we?"
Jack bowed his head, though his cheeks were pale pink with anger. A cold feeling blossomed in his gut and Jack felt icicles forming on his fingertips, only to break and fall apart, then get replaced by new ones. It was his way of venting.
Why had Bunny brought that up? Wasn't it enough that he'd just told him something really really horrible and now he was drudging up the past? Jack took several deep breaths. There was a girl out there who needed to be avenged, and he knew that when they found Pitch, if he was guilty of killing her, he was going to make him pay.
"So you said someone was out looking for him," Jack said after he'd calmed down. "Who?"
"Arachne, goddess of spiders."
"Oh. And has she found him yet?"
"Nope. Not yet."
Jack stood up and began to pace. He was thinking. Where would Pitch go? And how would one spider find him?
"Jack," Bunny said standing up and putting an arm around the boy's shoulder. "Everything's gonna be alright."
"Bunny, a kid is dead!" Jack said, ducking away. "Until we find Pitch and bring him to justice, everything will never be alright!"