AN: Hey everybody! In this chapter there's a tender Bunny and Tooth moment. I do find the Bunny/Tooth couple really adorable so they will have a few cute moments every now and again. Maybe I'll make them a legit side couple later if you guys don't mind the Sweet Tooth pairing.
RECENTLY RE-EDITED (1/19/16)
Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians or Alice: Madness Returns.
Are we star-crossed lovers?
Did I really want you gone?
If I'm really a winner
Where did these demons come from?
Mirror ~ Ellie Goulding
~O~
North stood tall with a bright smile that could out shine the sun, completely oblivious to the dumbfounded stares he was receiving. Bunny wanted to slap his forehead with his paw for forgetting about North's overly friendly nature. The man had almost no sense of personal space and would hug an angry bear if he thought it would help calm it down.
'Oh lord, we haven't even been here ten minutes!' Bunny thought miserably. 'And here I thought Frost was gonna be the one to screw things up!'
Alice's feet were rooted to the ground as she blinked up at the stranger who had just been so brazen with her. His demeanor was dazzling and it radiated off him in waves so thick, she could almost physically see them. Back when she was human, any man who tried to get that unnecessarily close to her would have received a good slap across the face or a swift kick in the-
"I hope you are liking my workshop," North said before noticing the elves gathered near Alice's feet. He threw his head back and let out a loud laugh. "I see my elves are being the good little helpers! So attentive they are being! They certainly like you, don't they?"
Alice tried to gather up the anger she needed to give this mountain man a piece of her mind, but ultimately she found that she couldn't. She never felt that familiar build up in her stomach. It had always been easy for her to lash out at the burly sailors that lurked around the Mangled Mermaid Saloon back in London because those men were lecherous perverts who deserved to be treated as such. This man seemed to be the exact opposite. He had such a friendly and welcoming aura surrounding him that it seemed to overpower any negative feelings in the entire complex. He made it difficult for people to be angry with him.
Alice remembered that cheek kissing was an affectionate gesture among family and even close friends, but it certainly wasn't a greeting one would use with a complete stranger. The fact that this man would greet someone he has never even met before with such a meaningful gesture, completely bewildered her, and it was that bewilderment that kept her from pulling out her Vorpal Blade. The man looked down at Alice with such a prideful, and utterly joyful expression. It was as if she was his estranged daughter who finally decided to come back home. She didn't fail to notice the child-like gleam that shined in his sky blue eyes, despite his seasoned age, and it was then that she realized that there was something quite fantastic about this man.
"I-I do. I mean yes, I really do like your Workshop," Alice said once she collected herself. "It's amazing."
"Bah! I'm sure it is nothing compared to your Wonderland," North said with a well-meaning scoff. "From what I hear from Bunny, that is truly amazing place."
Not used to such flattery, Alice looked down at her boots and started toying with the hem of her apron.
"Thank You, Mr. North," She replied politely, almost giving a curtsy.
Bunny once told her that curtsies were now an outdated gesture, archaic in modern society. She didn't know if they would be an appropriate greeting in her current situation. Before she became a spirit, Alice's social skills were shoddy at best, having missed out on the most crucial years of healthy social development while she was locked up in Rutledge asylum. She could only imagine how horrendous they would be in modern times.
Alice jumped at another loud bout of laughter from North. He held his stomach as he threw his whole body into it, laughing like he had just heard a hilarious joke.
'What a strange man,' She observed with thoughtful smile. 'But also refreshingly eccentric and charismatic. A delightful combination if I do say so myself.'
"There is no need to use such formalities, Alice," North said once he calmed down. "You are among friends here! Now come, let's be heading up to the fireplace. The other Guardians will be wanting to meet you. Would you like anything to drink or eat? We have eggnog by the barrel load and I can never get rid of all this damn fruitcake laying around. I'm sure my elves will bring you anything you want."
Alice shook her head, declining his offers as she let him lead her to the nearby staircase. Bunny let out a sigh of relief at the avoided catastrophe and followed close behind.
'So far, so good," He thought as his nerves slowly settled. 'That's one guardian down and three to go.'
~O~
At first glance, Alice could have sworn that the hovering fairy above the fireplace mantle was a creature from the Vale of Tears. She briefly considered the idea that something followed her and Bunny out of Wonderland.
The fairy was obviously female with her curved, feminine physique and brightly colored feathers. They were a mixture of green, teal, blue, yellow, and a little violet around the ends of her tail feathers. On her back were large insect wings, akin to that of a dragonfly but moved in a way that allowed her to hover in place like a hummingbird. Her strange and unique appearance appealed to Alice and she immediately thought that the fairy was a very pretty and fascinating creature.
The fairy was facing the fireplace with her back towards the approaching three. She was speaking rapidly with a group of smaller fairies that closely resembled herself. She was naming off different cities, states, and countries while pointing one by one at each mini fairy. Once a fairy had its orders, it would quickly fly off and be replaced by another.
When they reached the top of the stairs, North moved behind Alice and gently guided her closer to the center of the room.
"Tooth! Come over here. We have new visitor!" He called in almost a sing-song tone, not bothering to cover up the smile in his voice.
Tooth immediately turned around and gasped when she saw Alice. Her pink eyes lit up like stars and she flew towards the girl with incredible speed, pulling her into a big hug as soon as she was close enough. Alice had to fight to keep her balance as she suddenly found herself engulfed in a feathery hug that nearly knocked her off her feet. The unexpected and unwanted contact made the girl tense up in defense, but Tooth seemed too overjoyed to notice her discomfort.
"You came! I can't believe you're here, standing right in front of me after all these years!" Tooth gushed as she raised her hands to gently hold Alice's face. "And you've grown up to be so beautiful, just like I always knew you would. I'm so happy you agreed to come, you have no idea what this means to us. We have a lot of catching up to do. Now open up and let me see those teeth!"
"Pardon me?" Alice stuttered, not quite sure she heard that last part correctly.
She took two cautionary steps back when she realized Tooth was serious, finally drawing the line at impromptu dental checkups. There was only so much physical contact a recluse like herself could take in one day. She watched in confused horror as Tooth reached towards her mouth with prying hands, but before she could violate Alice's personal space on a whole new and creative level, North quickly jumped in. Even friendly St. North was aware that some of Tooth's mannerisms could be a little unsettling sometimes, especially for people who weren't used to them.
"Tooth, you are harassing one of my guests again," North said with a light scold. "Save the teeth checking for later. There is still much to do."
"Oh right, sorry," Tooth blushed in embarrassment. She smiled sheepishly and rubbed her arm. "Force of habit."
The fairy pulled away from Alice, backing off to a reasonable distance but continued to hover close by. Her mini fairies flew next to their leader, sizing up the new stranger in the room with the usual tooth fairy scrutiny. Just like mother Tooth, they barely resisted the urge to fly into the girl's face and pry open her mouth so they could see her teeth.
"I'm sorry Alice, for being so forward," She quickly apologized when she finally noticed how uncomfortable the poor girl was. Remembering what era Alice grew up in, Tooth took the courtesy of doing a curtsy with her tail feathers. "I'm Toothiana, the Queen of the Tooth Fairies, but you may call me Tooth. We don't usually use titles around here."
"That's alright, I suppose. I'm Alice Liddell," She replied, returning a small curtsy of her own. It was a bit redundant of her to state her name since Tooth already knew it, but she did so anyways. One can't forget her manners after all.
There was silence in the room as Tooth continued to study Alice, still unable to believe the girl was here in the flesh after such a long time. The moment was saved from becoming awkward when Tooth's eyes suddenly started to tear up. She let out another embarrassed laugh and a poorly masked sniffle before she flew up higher in the air to compose herself.
"I'm sorry for getting all emotional," She wiped her eyes. "I just still can't believe you're here! I haven't seen you in so long!"
"But we've never met before," Alice pointed out in confusion.
At the sound of Bunny loudly and conspicuously clearing his throat, the fairy realized a little too late that she had probably just said something she shouldn't have. Her and Bunny exchanged quick glances from across the room as Alice looked in between the two suspiciously. The young woman crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Bunny.
"Have we, Bunny?" She asked.
Her accusing glare made the gray pooka flinch. He was going to get such a verbal thrashing from the girl later. Alice's scoldings were known to be deadly and very effective. They were even worse than North's, which was quite a feat. The old codger rarely got upset about anything, but when he did he could guilt trip someone into feeling lower than dirt.
An unspoken discussion passed between the two Guardians before Bunny gave Tooth a nod.
"Well, we have, but not directly," Tooth explained. "We've never met officially face to face, but we knew you when you were a little girl. We know all the children of the world, past and present. I collected your baby teeth, North left you gifts on Christmas, the Sandman gave you good dreams, and of course, you hid Easter eggs with Bunny."
"I never had good dreams as a child," Alice spat unexpectedly making Tooth recoil as if her words physically struck her.
Perhaps what she had said wasn't entirely true. She vaguely remember dreaming about her old Wonderland as a child, but those memories were quickly swallowed by hellish flames, dying screams of her loved ones, and obsidian black ooze. Later Alice would deeply regret snapping at the kind fairy, but she hated it when people brought up her past, even if they were the better parts.
Bunny stepped forward and placed his paw on Alice's shoulder. He recognized the signs of her spiking temperament. Revealing to Alice that a handful of strangers already knew who she was, probably wasn't a very smart move, but he couldn't place any blame on the poor Tooth Fairy. If anything, it was Bunny's fault for not warning the other Guardians ahead of time about what not to say around Alice.
"Hey, North!" Bunny called out to the man who had left the conversation soon after it had started. North was in the middle of arguing with a yeti (the creature painted a large pile of robots the wrong shade of green) when he heard his name. He looked at the pooka and Bunny gestured to Alice with his paw. "Why don't ya give Alice a tour of the Workshop?"
"Excellent idea, Bunny!" North exclaimed, his face lighting up with glee. North was a big show off and he always jumped at the chance to give a tour of his beloved workshop. He motioned for Alice to follow him. "Come, let me show you my Wonderland."
When Alice looked at Bunny with a glare, the pooka just gave her a guilty smile and jerked his head in North's direction.
"Go on, I'll catch up with ya later," He assured her.
After a little hesitation and an indignant huff, Alice made her way over to North. He allowed her to descend the staircase first and followed behind her. Bunny waited until the two to disappeared before making his way over to Tooth. The fairy had a forlorn expression on her face as she hung in the air, watching the girl's departure. The Easter Bunny felt disturbed by the sad look. Negative expressions didn't belong on Tooth's face, they looked too unnatural.
Once he was within a close distance of his friend, Tooth engulfed him in a tight huge. Thrown off by the sudden move, Bunny felt his face grow hot under his fur and his heart beat faster. He was used to Tooth's affectionate behavior by now, but her touch never failed to bring out such strong reactions in him.
"Oh, Aster," Tooth mumbled into his fur. "The first time I get the opportunity to reunite with one of our lost believers and I screw it all up! What is wrong with me? Mentioning her past like that, so stupid!"
"It's alright, Tooth," Bunny said while patting her back. "It wasn't that bad. Trust me, me an' Alice's first reunion was ten times more awkward than yours."
"I just hope I didn't upset her too badly. I was so excited to see her again and finally have the chance to formally introduce myself, I just..."
"Don't worry about it," Bunnymund insisted. "Alice is pretty resilient and bounces back quickly when insulted. Not that ya did, o' course. Just take it easy on the physical contact and she'll warm up to ya in no time."
Tooth wiped her eyes again before letting out a sigh. "If you say so Bunny."
He smiled at her. "That's the spirit, Sheila."
"Aster," Tooth started after another silence.
Bunny swallowed the lump in his throat and nervously flexed his paws. Whenever Tooth said his name like that, it usually meant she was going to bring up something serious and/or very personal. "I've been meaning to talk to you about your past with Alice."
When Bunny didn't reply, Tooth let out another sigh.
"You do know that if Alice decides to become a Guardian, North will want to know everything you know about her. We know about the fire and death of her family, and we also vaguely know about the asylum. North, Sandy, and I all agreed that we won't pressure Alice into telling us anything until she wants to, but we would like to hear your side of the story."
The pooka silently took in her words. He exhaled deeply from his nose and reached up to rub the back of his head, his big ears drooping down considerably.
"I know, and you're right. I've been sittin' on this for too long and it wouldn't be fair to keep doin' if Alice becomes a guardian. I'll tell you guys everything you want to know. Not right now, but soon. I promise I'll tell you all...except Frost. Senior guardian members only."
Tooth gave Bunny a smile and pulled him into another hug. She ignored the comment about Jack, but secretly she agreed. Because he has only been a Guardian for such a short time, Jack didn't need to know everything that goes on. The winter spirit was still trying to find his footing within their group and his new role as a guardian. They didn't need to add to the issues that Jack still had to work out for himself by piling this sensitive situation with Alice on top of them.
However, the eldest Guardians needed to know if Alice was qualified enough to be a Guardian. They trusted the Man in the Moon's judgment, but Alice still needed to pass their inspection. They needed know that she could handle the pressures of being a guardian and that the children would be safe around her protection. In her own opinion, Tooth was positive that the Man in the Moon had a good reason for choosing Alice Liddell. He obviously wouldn't have chosen her if she was any danger to the children.
Tooth was ecstatic that Bunny was going to tell them everything. She hoped to MIM that by confiding in his follow teammates, Bunny would finally stop blaming himself for what happened. She had a very good feeling about all of this. She just knew that this new addition to their "family" would only make things better for everyone.
"Thank you, Bunny!"
"No problem," He muttered as he returned Tooth's hug.
Bunny allowed the hug to go on longer than the first one. He stood there, gladly taking in the warm comfort of his close friend. The silence was very calming until a teasing voice cut in and shattered Bunny's peace into a million pieces.
"Awww, can I have a hug too, Bunny?"
The pooka pulled away from Tooth and turned to glare at the winter spirit, instantly annoyed by the boy's voice. Jack stood over by the globe, leaning casually against the control system near the base of it. His staff was resting on his shoulder and he held something in his hand. Baby Tooth hovered nearby, eyeing the item in his hand nervously.
Jack gave the flustered rabbit a flashy smirk.
"How long have you been standin' there?" Bunny demanded with a growl.
"Long enough," Jack responded nonchalantly but changed his answer when Bunny scowled at him. "Calm down ya big softy. I just got here, like, literally five seconds ago. I didn't hear any of your pillow talk, I swear. You should probably get your big dumbo ears checked if you didn't notice me until I said something."
He rolled his eyes when Bunny continued to give him a dubious glare, obviously not believing him. Even after their big adventure two years ago, Bunny still thought he was an immature child who'd prefer to goof off all the time and not take anything seriously.
However, is wasn't like Bunny still didn't like the young spirit, because that wasn't true at all. Frost could act like such a spoiled brat sometimes, but when push comes to shove, the kid knows where his priorities lie and was a decent ally to have in a fight. His upbeat and fun personality was a breath of fresh air for the elder guardians. He helped them rediscover their passion for making children smile and reminded them of the reasons why they were chosen to be guardians in the first place. Bunny would never admit it out loud to the teen, but he really did appreciate all that Jack had done for them.
That didn't make him any less annoying, though.
Despite being named the Guardian of Fun, it seemed like to Bunny that Jack's true main purpose in life was to make things as unnecessarily difficult for the pooka as possible.
"Just ask Baby Tooth if you don't believe me," He nodded towards his tiny companion.
Baby Tooth squeaked and nodded enthusiastically at Bunny.
Before the pooka could point how completely biased a love-struck mini fairy's word could be in this situation, Tooth cut in to avoid another argument between the Winter and Spring spirits.
"There you are Jack!" Tooth smiled. "We have good news. Bunny was able to convince Alice to come to Santoff Claussen. She's here with us in the complex."
"Is that so?" Jack mused while still smirking at Bunny. "Where is she then?"
"North's givin' her a tour of the Workshop," Bunny grumbled, crossing his arms. "We should probably go find 'em now."
He figured that the two were probably somewhere on the ground floor by now, maybe visiting the reindeer. He had mentioned to North before that Alice had an affinity for animals.
While Bunny moved towards the stairs, Tooth looked back and noticed that Jack wasn't following. He was too busy flying a jumbo-sized airplane around the ceiling of the Workshop. She smiled fondly at the playful gleam in his eyes as he flew the plane around the other airborne toys in the factory. Guardian of fun, indeed.
"Jack, put that down and come with us. North will want to have another meeting once Sandy shows up and I want you to meet Alice."
The Tooth Fairy was excited for Jack to meet Alice. Even though he has been a spirit longer than her, the two were permanently stuck as young adults and their birth time periods weren't that far apart. Jack was eighteen, and if memory serves well, Alice was nineteen. Tooth hoped that the two might find a companion in each other due to their close ages. It certainly wouldn't be a bad thing for Jack. The fairy recalled all the times he would mill about the Workshop in complete boredom, unable to play with Jamie and his friends because they were kept busy with school and warm weather forced him to seek out colder climates.
"Go ahead, I'll catch up in a minute," Jack promised while getting the plane in route to land.
"Alright, just don't take too long," She said before flying down towards the ground floor.
Jack pulled back on the controller and watched as the plane glided towards him. After some careful maneuvering, he was able to land the plane on a nearby Workshop table. He smiled and congratulated himself for his accomplishment, turning towards Baby Tooth. The small fairy applauded her icy friend and he gave her a couple flashy, exaggerated bows.
"We might as well go find the others and meet the famous Alice, Baby Tooth," Jack said as he walked over to the staircase with Baby Tooth following close behind.
He must have not been looking where he was going because Jack suddenly tripped over an elf carrying a tray of sugar cookies. The teen let out a surprised shout as he fell to the ground, landing roughly on his knees and then his stomach. The airplane controller that was previously in Jack's hand was now sailing through the air. He flinched when it hit the stone ground with a brutal crack. Almost immediately afterwards, the winter spirit heard the sound of whirling airplane propellers and electrical sparks.
The airplane on the nearby workshop table sparked violently, short circuiting. The propellers started spinning at a speed that Jack doubted was normal for a toy plane. The plane rolled towards the end of the table and took off into the air at a dangerous speed.
"Well that can't be good," Jack murmured as he watched the plane fly away. Baby Tooth looked at her friend before slapping her forehead with her palm.
~O~
Finding Alice and North hadn't been that difficult. When Bunny reached the main floor, he spotted the two standing around a workshop table watching a yeti build a massive dollhouse out of wood. Alice stood with her arms crossed over the table's surface. Her eyes watched closely as the large creature carved intricate designs into the dark wood.
When North noticed Tooth and Bunny approaching, He walked towards them and gestured to the girl with a gloating smile on his face. North had never been very good with young adults. They were always so difficult to please, especially in modern times when all they wanted for Christmas were complicated, high-tech gadgets that the yetis would never be able to produce. So North was quite proud of himself for being able to impress Alice with his workshop.
"Do I have way with the teenagers or what?" He laughed.
"Thanks, North," Tooth said. "I was worried that I ran her off! I'm glad everything's okay now. We found Jack and he should be joining us any minute now. Where's Sandy?"
"He should be getting here soon enough as well," North replied. "I bet a whole fruit cake that he's on way right now."
"How's she doing?" Bunny asked with a nod towards Alice.
"Fantastic! She didn't seem too interested in toys, but I knew I had her when I showed her the reindeer!"
"That's great North," Bunny said as he patted North's arm. "Everythin's goin' great. Once Sandy shows up, we'll have another meetin' to try to convince Alice to become a Guardian."
Tooth blinked at the pooka. "Wait, you mean she hasn't already agreed?"
"Eh...no, not exactly," Bunny let out an uneasy laugh. "I was only able to convince her to visit the Workshop for a short while. I told her that if she decided that she didn't want to be a Guardian, I would take her back home to Wonderland."
North gave him a stern look as he crossed his arms over his chest. "But Bunny, you know she can't say no to becoming guardian. The Man in Moon chose her, it is destiny."
"I know, I know, but it's not like we can make her take the oath," Bunny pointed out. "No one can make Alice do anything she doesn't want to. Just give her some time to readjust to the world and she'll come around eventually."
"Eventually?" North gave a laugh of disbelief.
Bunny rolled his eyes at the skeptic Russian "Well, we're not exactly bein' rushed here. There isn't an imminent threat hangin' over us like there was when MiM chose Frost. We have more then enough time."
North regarded his friend thoughtfully as he stroked his beard. After a few seconds, he let out his usual powerful laugh and roughly patted Bunny on the back. It was an affectionate gesture, but it nearly knocked the pooka on his face.
"Alright, I see point, Bunny," North laughed when Bunny stumbled forward. "Let me grab Alice and we'll go start meeting."
~O~
Alice heard North before she saw him.
His loud footsteps were hard to miss, even among the noise of the workshop. She turned away from the yeti and his dollhouse, and looked up at North as his body towered over hers.
'I'm going to get very serious neck pains at this rate,' Alice mused as she craned her head in order to meet the Russian's bright eyes.
Before she could comment on the yetis' amazing craving abilities, Alice noticed Bunny and Tooth. Tooth waved sheepishly at her while Bunny was turning down a chalice of eggnog from a yeti.
"Where are the other Guardians?" She asked North. "Bunny said there were five total."
"The Sandman is running a little late, but he will be here soon," North replied. "As for Jack Frost, he should be around here somewh-"
"Everybody get down!"
At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, Alice looked up towards the top floor of the workshop. She could just barely make out a blue-cladded figure through all the gold confetti in the air, but she couldn't see much else except for a featureless blur. However, she could see that it was a male standing on the wooden railing, waving his arms around frantically.
"Who on earth is that?" Alice asked as she cocked her head to the side, confused by the person's bizarre display. North mirrored the girl's expression and placed his fist against his sides.
"Jack!" He called. "What is meaning of this?"
"Runaway plane!" Jack shouted back, pointing at a toy airplane flying out of control around the workshop, black smoke trailing behind it like a sky banner.
It was reeking havoc and causing a panic among the factory and its workers. They watched as it soared through the different levels of the Workshop, knocking over half built toys and startling the yetis. At one point, the airplane hit a large stack of green robots, much to a certain yeti's dismay, and sent them scattering over the side of the railing, making them rain down over the occupants of the main floor. Spirits and workshop workers alike quickly scattered, trying to avoid being hit on the head by one of the plastic toys.
Because she wasn't in the mood to jump around like there were ants in her stockings like the others, Alice had her blue umbrella shield materialize into her hands. She held the protective parasol above her head as several robots hit the lace barrier and bounced off. Once they stopped falling, she looked back up at the airplane just in time to see it charging straight for her and North. It made a high pitch whining noise as it drew closer. She was tensed up and prepared to dodge, but a patch of ice suddenly appeared underneath her feet. Alice tried to keep her balance but the ice effectively brought down both her, North, and several nearby yetis. They all landed in a pile of tangled limbs and fur.
Out of reach of the ice patch, Bunny and Tooth had their own problems dealing with a swarm of panicking elves at their feet. Tooth tried to calm down the elves by gently shushing them while Bunny just cursed their existence when they weaved in between his big rabbit feet. After almost toppling over the small creatures, Bunny glared up at the winter spirit.
"Jack, you rotten gumbie! Stop messin' around with that thing before I come up there and-"
To busy shouting at Jack, Bunny failed to notice the airplane flying towards him until it was too late to get out of the way. It clipped him in the back of the head before sailing into a wall and exploding on impact. The force of the hit sent the poor pooka to the ground like a sack of bricks.
Alice, who had landed rather painfully on her backside, sat up with a slight groan and spotted Bunny sprawled out over the stone floor. She let out a worried gasp for her friend. She looked back up at the ceiling and her eyes immediately locked and hardened on a certain winter spirit. Anger blossomed within her chest and she quickly climbed to her feet.
After witnessing the chaos he had caused, Jack flew down to the main floor to apologize. He hoped to MiM that the Easter Bunny wouldn't club him to death with a boomerang when he finally came to. When his bare feet touched the floor, he made his way over to Bunny. However, before he could reach the pooka, his path was suddenly blocked and his line of vision was invaded by a cloud of blue dust and...butterflies?
Jack didn't get a chance to react before a small pair of hands emerged from the swarm and roughly shoved him in the chest. The force of the shove nearly knocked the breath out of the ice spirit and sent him stumbling backwards. As he tried to regain his balance and make sense of what had just happened, the butterfly swarm disappeared. Standing in their place was a young girl and she did not look happy.
When the Guardian of Fun finally found his balance again, he gave the offending girl a quick once-over. She had long, dark hair, peach pale skin, and the most stunning emerald green eyes that Jack had ever seen on a person. She wore a blue dress, white apron with suspicious looking red splatter on it, striped stockings and black boots. The glare she was giving him was so intense it almost made him flinch. They were nearly the same height, but Jack felt two inches tall under her piercing gaze.
"What on earth do you think you are doing!" The girl practically screeched with her arms crossed under her chest.
"I um was, huh?" Came Jack's genius reply.
"Just look at what you did to poor Bunnymund, you bloody dodo!" Alice shouted at the dumbstruck boy in front of her.
The stranger's insult pulled Jack from his stupor and he glared right back at her. He liked getting insulted by someone he didn't know just as much as he liked being shoved in the chest. He also didn't like that some random girl was implying that he had hurt Bunny on purpose, something that the Winter spirit would never do.
"Hey! I wasn't trying to hit Bunny! It was an accident, lady!" Jack snapped. "Now stop harping at me and move so I can see if Bunny is alright."
Alice was momentarily stunned by boy's rude response and she just about to give him a piece of her mind when his odd appearance fully registered. Her eyes took in his icy pale skin, white hair, and crystal blue eyes. Further inspection of his frost covered clothes left no doubt in Alice's mind the identity of the person standing in front of her. Her first impression of the winter spirit wasn't very good to begin with, mainly due to Bunny's constant complaints of the boy, but this little incident certainly didn't do anything to help improve her opinion of him. She was already prepared to treat him just like anyone else she didn't like; coldly.
Alice shifted her weight on to one foot and crossed her arms before fixing her opponent with another scrutinizing glare.
"You're Jack Frost," She stated matter-of-factly as she pointed a finger tip at him.
Jack slowly relaxed from his defensive stance once he saw the girl lower hers. He felt out of the loop. She obviously knew him, but he had no idea who she was. He looked over the girl's shoulder at the other Guardians, hoping to get some assistance from his friends. Bunny was conscious again, but he was still sitting on the floor, gingerly rubbing the back of his head. Tooth was kneeling next to him with North standing close by. For the moment he was apparently spared a beating from Bunny and a lecture from Tooth because their full attention was on him and the girl.
It looked like he was on his own this time.
"Yeah, I am," Jack said with a suspicious edge in his tone. "And you are?"
"Alice Liddell," She replied. "What kind of moron flies a toy airplane into a highly populated area? Not only did you almost decapitate poor Bunny with that little monstrosity, but you also caused the elves to fall into a wide-spread panic and disrupted the entire workshop-"
"Whoa, wait a minute!" Jack interrupted with a hand raised. "You're Alice?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize I had stuttered," Alice snapped. Frost's interruption made her even more irritated. "Yes, I'm Alice and you, Mr. Frost, are starting to get on my last nerve."
"You've gotta be kidding me," Jack laughed in utter disbelief, completely ignoring what she had just said. "Oh wow, you're old and kinda grumpy. And hey, aren't you suppose to be blonde?"
Jack felt a little stupid for not realizing who she was earlier. Why else would a strange girl be inside North's domain unless it was the new guardian Bunny was sent to fetch. The blue dress and white apron should have been a huge hint too, but then again Jack never really paid much attention to detail. He considered himself to be more of a "big picture" kind of guy.
All of the Winter spirit's irritation flew out the window and was replaced with curiosity and amusement. He smirked while leaning back casually on his staff, his sudden change in attitude and nonchalant nature only seeming to annoy Alice more. From her point of view, it felt like he wasn't taking her seriously, and Alice hated that.
"Well, clearly I am not," She almost growled, barely resisting the overwhelming urge to pull out her Hobby Horse and teach this disrespectful fool some much needed manners. "You must be confusing me for-"
"You don't look anything like the Alice in the story books."
"Yes, I am quite aware of that. I'm trying-"
"But then again nobody expects the Easter Bunny to be a six-foot-one, mutant kangaroo with an Australian accent. So I guess your appearance isn't that strange."
"Stop interrupting me!" Alice shouted, her frustration finally reaching its limit.
"Sheesh, calm down," Jack laughed after seeing how worked up the girl was getting, finding it kind of funny. "I'm just trying to be friendly."
"I think you're confusing the word friendly with the word annoying because friendly is the very last thing you are being!" Alice snapped.
"Well I hate to break to you, but you're not exactly "Little Miss Sunshine" yourself, girly."
After that comment, Alice finally decided she had enough of that miserable cur's mouth. She kept her Vorpal blade away just because Frost wasn't armed with anything lethal other than a funny looking stick, but that didn't mean a right hook to the temple wouldn't do him any damage.
With her emerald eyes solely focused on the smug boy, Alice practically stomped towards the Winter Spirit.
"Alright you two," North said sternly, blocking Alice's way with one of his arms. "That's enough."
"North's right," Tooth joined in once Bunny was back on his feet. "We all got off on the wrong foot here. Let's just take a deep breath and calm down."
"Yeah, knock it off Frost before I decide to hit you in the head with a toy," Bunny growled, rubbing the back of his head.
Jack gave the pooka a guilty smile.
"Come, come," North loudly clapped his hands together. "The yetis tell me that dinner is ready and that Sandy is already in dining hall. Let's put ill words behind us and eat!"
At the word "eat", all the nearby elves immediately started running towards the dining hall in excitement. North laughed and shook his head at his little workers before he followed their lead.
Tooth shot Jack a disapproving look. "We'll talk about this later young man."
Jack almost winced as he watched Tooth fly off after North. He didn't even have to look at Bunny to know that he was also still in trouble with the Easter Bunny, but it seemed like Bunny wasn't planning on killing him just yet. He'll probably wait until after dinner so he didn't have to strangle Jack on an empty stomach.
Jack glanced over at Alice. She was still giving him the evil eye, but she didn't look as mad as she was two minutes ago. He still found her piercing emerald glare extremely unsettling, but instead of letting his discomfort show, he gave her a teasing wink and gestured with his staff for her to follow everyone else. When she only scowled darkly in return, he shrugged his shoulders and walked off towards the dining hall with his staff twirling slightly in his hand and Baby Tooth by his side.
Alice watched him walk away until he disappeared into a different section of the workshop. Once he was gone, she turned her glare on Bunny. His ears drooped down when he read the very clear message in her expression: 'I am very cross with you, Mister Bunnymund'.
"Okay, that didn't go exactly as I planned but-" Bunny started to say but stopped when Alice held up a hand.
"Nevermind that, Bunny," She said curtly. "There's clearly nothing that can be done about what just transpired between me and that blithering, pale-faced twit, so there's no point in dwelling on it. Let's just go eat."
"I am really sorry your first visit back in our world turned out this way, Alice."
"I know, Bunny," Alice sighed. "But I suppose it's still not over yet."
AN: Alright, fess up! Who thought this was going to be a 'love-at-first-sight' kind of story? Nope! Scorpiofreak doesn't role that way!
Aww! Poor robot painting yeti! He never gets a break...
Other than Bunny, the other Guardians don't know much about what happened to Alice after the fire because she never met them before this chapter, but they know the obvious basic details about her life.
Super nervous! Hope you guys loved it!
~Scorpiofreak!