-Maddie (Guest) "… could you do a chapter with Jack and animals?"
Yes. Yes I can. And here it is buddy! As well as another thing that has been a popular idea, so enjoy!
-Ella (guest reviewer) I do that too, Lol :D And I'll see what I can do, because I can see Jack doing that *faraway look* Glad you're enjoying the fic!
Oh, and thanks to yamiyugi23, VladTheImpaler413, The Dangerous One, thepumpkinqueen712, toothlessisepic (so true, buddy, Lol :D), 0FrozenFire0, nafara, BeautifulHalfBlood and Lunrav14 for the faves and/or follows!
And, as always, though I completely forget pretty much all the time, cookies for everyone! *throws handfuls of Jack's best cookies… then blinks* Oh, and, because I haven't done one in Moon knows how long…
Discalimer… I don't own ROTG, the characters, the places, yada yada you know the rest :D
Jack sighed as he lounged in a tree.
Yeah, a tree. Because A, he couldn't be bothered to move and B, he… couldn't be bothered to move.
Plus he was comfortable.
And if the guardians wanted to find him, they could just… do something.
He didn't know…
He was just…
What was he?
Jack sighed. He was tired, yes. He was very tired, and also frustrated, angry, worried… Why didn't Ice Black just bloody attack and cause some trouble already?
More avalanches, more frozen roads, more accidents… He was baiting him, but the other guardians had convinced him to take things carefully.
Plus he had spent the rest of the day making it snow, and making it snow and making it snow and it was just so bloody monotonous! Bunny was likewise tired, especially after Easter, and, though Jack knew the Pooka would try and get his spirits up if he knew what was wrong, he didn't want to interrupt his rest. It was too hot to visit the palace, and, to be honest, Jack really could not be bothered to fly that far anyway… Of course, he could go to visit North… and Iceman… Shady… Gale… Flow… Anybody really, but he just could not find it in himself to bother.
Hmm… Maybe this was his mind's way of telling himself to have some time alone…?
He could understand that…
He used to like being alone. Still did, whenever he got the chance. Which wasn't very often.
But this would be the first time I a long time he actually had a choice as to whether to spend a while on his own… And he wasn't sure he could remember how.
It used to be that he would just sit and think… But if he started thinking now, what with everything Ice Black was doing, the chances were he'd do something that most would consider stupid and reckless. It used to be that he wouldn't have given a damn. Now he did…
It used to be… It used to be…
Had he really changed that much? Many had said so, but he had never seen it himself… Until now.
He had changed… And true, he liked it. He liked it a lot… But it… Sometimes…
Jack sighed as he hopped down from the tree and started pacing.
Yes, he preferred things now to how they were. Of course he did! He had friends, family, believers, people who actually gave a damn what happened to him…
But sometimes, he couldn't help but feel smothered.
With that thought, he sank down against the trunk of a tree, and sighed.
What with everything, he just wanted to scream in frustration… But the last time he had done that, the wind had decided to create a snow hurricane around him, unsure of what was wrong.
So he just sat there, thinking, and subsequently trying not to think.
It was about half an hour later, when Jack had just given up, and was meditating to try and wipe his mind clean, when he felt something small, warm and furry pressing against his leg.
Opening his eyes, he smiled when he saw it was a small rabbit, and started stroking it behind the ears. He wasn't quite sure why, but he had always had an affinity with animals… Not just arctic ones, but all kinds. The small rabbit soon hopped onto his lap, and nestled into his hoody.
Another thing too, the presence of animals had always seemed to calm him.
Maybe because they had always seemed so innocent… And so undemanding…
Before long, that one rabbit was joined by a couple of others, and Jack ended up letting the small bundles of fur and the sounds of the forest lull him to sleep.
_
Lily grinned as she stroked the small deer. She had been following this one all day…
Then she blinked as it perked its ears up, before trotting away. Deciding to follow, the spirit eventually blinked as she caught sight of Jack, sleeping and clearly exhausted from what she could see. And also half buried in dozing rabbits.
Hmm, the fact that he seemed unaware of that fact would also hold testament to the fact that he was more exhausted than Lily had ever seen him.
Gently shooing the small bundles away from him, she settled down and decided to just stay till he woke up. Then whack him across the head for being an idiot and not getting enough sleep.
It was well gone into the evening when Jack finally opened his eyes, and he blinked a few times to get things into focus before he took in the small weight on his shoulder, and looked down to see that Lily was there, sleeping.
Why did he so often wake up being unable to explain things?
Jack sighed, nudging her.
"Hey, Lil?"
"Hmm?" She said, blearily, stretching, and then blinked.
"Oh, you're awake."
"Evidently…"
Whack.
"Hey!"
"That's for being a smartass."
Whack.
"OW!"
"And that's for not getting enough sleep."
"Alright, alright! Not my fault everything seems to be crashingdown! Moon…"
"Maybe not, but when I see the guardians, I'm telling Sandy to knock you out…"
"… Okay, now that is not necessary."
"Really? Because you didn't seem to know that you were half buried beneath rabbits."
"… Oh."
"Yeah. So feel like telling me what's up?"
"Nothing- Okay! Stop hitting me! I'm just tired and feeling a little smothered and worried about Ice Black, that's all. I'm fine, honest."
"That's fine to you?"
"Err… Yeah?"
"You can be such an idiot sometimes…"
"Aww, thanks…"
"Wasn't a compliment!"
"But it was compli-"
"Complimentary, yeah. I know… Anyway, who knew that older brother figures need so much looking after…"
"Hey! I am not that bad Lil-"
"Then go and do something fun."
"What?"
"You're the guardian of fun, and you're moping."
"I am not moping-"
"And worrying about something he can't change. Now go do something fun."
Jack blinked, wondering when the younger spirit had gotten so bossy, and, slowly, an idea formed and a smile grew on his face.
"Hey, Lily? How would you like to meet Sophie and Jamie? And the other kids from Burgess? I haven't visited in a few weeks…"
Lily grinned, hopping to her feet and tugging Jack to his.
"What are we waiting for?! Let's get the others and go!"
_
Jack rolled his eyes, lounging against a tree, as Lily dragged Flow out to join Shady, Iceman and Clover. Jack had simply given them an apologetic shrug, nodding towards Lily in a 'well, what can ya do' way, and getting 'fair point' looks in return.
All in all, it was early afternoon before they finally arrived in Burgess, and Jack prepared himself for the excitable onslaught he was about to receive from Sophie before tapping on the window.
Jamie opened it, and grinned when Jack told him he had some friends they might like to meet.
It wasn't long before several kids arrived in the small clearing, and Sophie broke the slight awkwardness by running forward to the deer Lily was stroking, and cooing over it.
Funnily enough, they immediately gravitated to each other. Iceman and Shady got talking to Jamie and the rest of the guys about the kind of stuff their powers can do, whilst Flow and Clover ended up with most of the girls. Cupcake, though Jack was not at all surprised, ended up being taught a few karate moves by Gale, and he grinned as he flopped down against a tree,
He didn't notice when Lily started to spread a message throughout the group, and didn't notice when it reached Iceman.
He did notice, however, when a load of ice were dropped down the back of his hoody.
He shook them out, yelping in surprise. The cold might not bother him, but that had sure as hell startled him, and he span, raising an eyebrow at Iceman, who slowly took a step back.
"Hey, now… It wasn't entirely my fault… Honest-"
Too late. He got pelted by a hailstorm of snowballs, and when he poked his head out of the snowdrift that had formed around him, he glared at Jack.
"Oh, it is all the way on-"
"I'd hoped you'd say that…"
Within seconds, the entire clearing was filled with piles of snowballs, and they gravitated into three teams without thinking.
Girls vs guys vs Jack…
Jack grinned as he propped the staff against a tree and pulled his sleeves up, causing the other spirits to groan and arm themselves with everything from swirling leaves to shoots of clovers, much to the kids delight. This was going to be fun…
For nearly an hour they kept up their battle. Snowballs flew everywhere, clovers grew and tangled around feet, leaves surrounded someone, making them spin and fall, completely dizzy.
But there efforts were in vain. Jack, Jamie and Sophie having decided to turn traitor twenty minutes in and help him, was setting snow trap after snow trap, throwing snowballs with uncanny aim, ambushing people as they dodged behind various trees and generally being a one-man force to be reckoned with. Jamie was simply 'accidentally' hitting people with snowballs-making sure they believed he was still on their side- and only got discovered when he was seen deliberately aiming at Iceman.
Of course, the rest of his erstwhile team got him covered in snow, and, from then on, Jack decided on all-out war. Which meant they won.
He and Jamie high fived amidst a scene of carnage. Snow everywhere, both covering everyone and in half melted puddles, exhausted children and spirits laying against trees and on the floor, Iceman was still frozen in a snow drift, which Jack decided to let melt naturally and Shady was still trying to get out of the clover trap Clover had sprung up around him, and was finally making some headway against it.
Sophie, on the other hand, had been sticking to her own agenda, and had absolutely no snow covering her, having hidden in a bush-under Jack's orders- and had been given a constant supply of snowballs, which she put to good use by hitting everyone as they ran past.
Basically, as Shady summed up when he finally broke free, he had no intention of messing with that family unit…
It was late afternoon when the day came to an end for them, and that was with Jack over-hearing, from the news on Jamie's TV, that a nearby mountain range was experiencing tremors with a risk of avalanches. However, as he said goodbye, and most of the spirits head off themselves, Lily actually decided to stay, and Jack grinned as he finally left, having seen all of the others home and telling Lily he'd be back in a couple of hours to head back with her, as her and Sophie began talking avidly about woodland animals.
Seems like today had been one of the best ideas he'd ever had…
Now then, about those avalanches…
Jack sighed as he flew off. Pretty much every other day had culminated in him taking avalanche checks. He just wished that Ice Black would actually show himself…
No matter what he did, where he visited or who he talked to, he couldn't seem to figure out where the ice spirit was.
_
Jack was relieved that, this time, there was no evidence of Ice or anything, like that, out of the ordinary, but stayed for an hour to make sure, before he flew back.
He ended up being roped into a game of twister by Jamie and the two girls, which he subsequently lost as Sophie sabotaged him, making Lily the winner, and he retaliated by tickling her. It was only when their mother told them that it was time for them to get some sleep that they both left, and Jack grinned as he said goodnight to Lily, after they had both casually drifted back to her home.
The younger spirit had enjoyed herself, and her and Sophie had formed a firm friendship, despite the over 200 year age gap. Apparently, rabbits were very good for bringing people together…
Lily laughed at that, and gave Jack a hug before he flew off.
Deciding that maybe he should actually get some sleep, and knowing that if he went to the Pole, he would end up getting roped into something or other, he head back to his own place, and said hi to Ben, one of the Yeti's he had nicknamed and who was acting as a kind of caretaker for the place whilst also trying to stop his young children from tearing it apart, before he let himself drop onto his bed.
It wasn't long before he was asleep and Sandy, sensing this a few hundred miles away, carefully selected a dream to shoot towards Jack. The golden guardian had a backlog of dreams for the spirit, and had been close to blasting him with dream sand to get him to sleep, so was happy to see that he wouldn't have to…
After kll, the last time he'd done that, Jack had blasted him with a paint gun that had been magically modified, and his sand had been blue that night…
Even now, he still had no idea how, on Moon, Jack had done it.
Ah well, with the plan North had for later that year, and with the plans that he, Bunny and Tooth had added to and embellished it with, the youngest guardian would need all the sleep he could get…
Then Sandy blinked… Oh, please Moon say that none of that had leaked into the dream?
_
When Jack opened his eyes the following morning, he frowned…
Hadn't there been something about a prank war or something…?
Hmm... Well, you never could be too prepared after all...
Okay, first things first, I'm afraid no love interests are going to occur between Jack and any of the other spirits I've mentioned . Maybe a love interest will develop if I do a sequel, but not in this fic.
Vader: Hey, that sounded really harsh, the way you said that.
Me: What? *rereads it* Damn, it kinda does… Sorry about that guys…
Vader: READ ALL ABOUT IT! RAVEN DEVELOPS MANNERS!
Me: *glares at him* I'll have you know that the only one I don't tend to act polite with is you. And that is because it is far more amusing for me not to.
Vader: Or, we could just be friendly?
Me: Have you read your character description? You single handedly demolished the entire Republic! You tried to kill Kenobi! You went completely evil! You-
Vader: Okay, point taken! But I turned back to the light side in the end.
Me: Well, your choice, do you want to remain a Sith Lord in the footnotes, or be Anakin again?
Vader: … Can I keep the name Vader and drop the Sith Lord?
Me: … Yoda?
Yoda: No problem with this do I have.
Me: Then yes.
Vader: *fist pumps* Yeah! Now I can go do some random flying manoeuvres without being obligated to destroy people! *runs from room excitedly*
Me: Oh dear Moon, what have I done?
Kenobi: You have set him on the path of the light side-
Me: I know that! But now I have to control Anakin Vader!
Kenobi: Well, there is an easy way to-
Me: You have no right to instruct me. Seeing how badly you did the job.
Kenobi: …
Yoda: …
Iron Man/Tony Stark: … Too far.
Me: Okay, maybe a little… But what the hell are you doing here Stark?
Tony: I am your conscience.
Me and everyone else who has starred in a footnote: *pause* *longer pause* *Bursts out laughing*
Me: *Between gasps, and attempting to wipe tears from my eyes and actually breathe* So… What did… you think guys? Please… Please review and… Oh hahahaha… Haha, yeah… Just let me… *snorts* Oh you know the drill… *falls over due to laughing so hard*
Tony: I really do not see what is so funny about me being somebody's conscience…
Me: Just… just… *sniggers* Just… stuff… Till *hiccups, then giggles* Till next time guys :D