Alaia Skyhawk: Here's the next one :)

And in answer to "Littlebopeep", I may reference the "Year without a summer" in past-tense, but only if it fits with what's going on in a chapter. I'm trying not to bog-down this fic with too many historical references.

And in answer to Hannah's question as to if Sophie is the first girl born to the family after Emily and Claire, no, she isn't. In line with what is typical of families during these early dates, there's actually 3-5 children in each generation. But so I don't have to come up with crazy numbers of names, I'll generally be focusing on the eldest boy in each generation and sometimes mention the name of a wife here and there. There is one young girl in the family who will be mentioned, for a cute moment not too much further on in the time-line, but in my head-canon Jack eventually sticks to only paying attention to the direct lineage. The reason for that, other than it would eventually become impossible to keep tabs on all the dozens of side-branches of the family, will be revealed in a future chapter :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

~(-)~

Chapter 35: Winter's Ire

If it weren't for the fact he never used his voice, Sandy would have been humming cheerfully to himself as he flew down the icy crevasse to the tunnel entrance of the Winter Sanctuary. He was in such a good mood, as he had been in general ever since Jack had become a Guardian. It was hard to believe it was now a few months over eleven years since that day. But then he'd been so busy, going about the world giving dreams, and also making sure to slip in the one about scaring monsters with snowballs or other thrown objects, every so often. Between that and Jack's own work, he'd only seen the Spirit of Winter perhaps two or three times per year over that period.

But then, that wasn't so much of a problem when you were immortal. He and Jack had, on a couple of occasions since their first meeting, gone a whole decade without setting eyes on one another.

But that was the past, and as Guardians it was only right and proper that the two of them have an annual meeting of their own. Sandy normally stopped by after he and the other Guardians had finished their meeting at North's Workshop, but this year he felt it only fair that Jack have the chance to request a matter be raised, secretly on his behalf, at this year's meeting. But when Sandy reached the plaza, it wasn't Jack who met him there.

Marzanna arrived after a few minutes, led by the sprite who had let her know there was a visitor.

She paused when she saw who it was, and smiled after a moment.

"Sandman, welcome. I'm afraid Jack is busy at the moment. Could I give him a message for you?"

Sandy tilted his head, drawing Jack presenting a question-mark to him, which he then took to where the other Guardians were sat at a table, and asked that 'question' to them.

Marzanna nodded in understanding.

"You wanted to ask if there was any question he wanted raised at the Guardians' annual meeting." She paused again, slightly evasive. "I'm certain there's nothing he'd want asked this time around. I'll let him know you stopped by, once he returns from his work."

Sandy regarded her for a long moment, before nodding and turning to leave. There was something a bit 'off' about the Lieutenant, for she'd seemed rather tense and on edge. And her excuse that Jack was 'busy', was one which had come up fairly frequently over the past few years. In fact, if not for those occasions when Jack was seemingly elsewhere, Sandy would have seen him far more often than he had. Not only that, but when he had seen Jack, the Spirit of Winter had been just a little too cheerful.

Sandy was sure something was up, but at the same time didn't want to press the issue in case it made it worse. So instead he flew northwards to go to the annual meeting, and was halfway there when the signal lights come into view. He'd timed it well, and arrived at the workshop first. Yet when Bunny arrived, his mood seemed rather foul, which incidentally it had been at every meeting over the past several years.

The Guardian of Dreams was starting to see a pattern.

He waited through the usual reports, fighting not to doze off from boredom, which was itself a feat considering nothing that was being said was any different than what had been said last year. Not really. It was only when North and Bunny were about to launch into their usual 'which is more important, Easter or Christmas?' argument, that he tossed a tiny ball of dreamsand past Bunny's nose to get his attention.

Bunny turned to face him, frowning.

"What is it, Sandy?"

Sandy drew an image of Bunny; hunched down with arms crossed, and scowling. He followed it with a question-mark, and it was Tooth who nodded.

"Good point. Bunny has been grumpier than usual the past few meetings. Bunny, what's wrong?"

All three of them watching him, Bunny hesitated, but then he relented and started to grumble.

"It's that bloody Jack Frost. That Easter after I roughed up his Lieutenant, he ambushed me somehow and froze my ears together. But, I figured I deserved it, so I left it at that. The following year, he did it again. Same thing, different place, like he knew where I was going to show up and had sat there waiting for me. Again, I let it slide, figuring he just wanted to make sure he'd gotten his point across... But that wasn't the last time he did it. He's frozen my ears together, every Easter for the past eleven years!"

There was a moment of silence, before North cleared his throat.

"..I know."

Bunny gaped at him.

"Wait, you know?!"

North shrugged..

"Of course I know, Jack has been on Naughty List every year since we make mistake with Marzanna, but you not only one he's been giving trouble to."

Sandy drew a new question-mark, and North explained.

"First year, was just Bunny's ears that got him on list. Next year, Jack's list of 'bad deeds' was over page long. Third year, it was five pages... Fourth year, it was nine. Fifth year, after his bad deeds ran up a list of twelve pages, I had to change magic of Lists that tracks what immortals do, to not write down Jack's deeds anymore. He was clogging up the spell, and it almost caused Lists for children to stop working. Took me four days to fix Lists for immortals. Jack has been on Naughty List every year since, probably for same reasons, even if I can no longer tell."

Tooth was staring at him in utter shock.

"Jack ran up twelve pages of bad deeds on the Naughty List? How?"

North shrugged again.

"Always started same time, Easter. Bunny's ears were first every year, but after first year it also started recording Jack giving trouble to Spring Spirits. No Lieutenants of Spring, he never bothered any of them, just Spring Legends and some of those Spring Nature Immortals who not serve Ariko. Favourite trick seemed to be freezing foot or clothing to floor or object. Petty things, really, but he's done lots of them."

While Tooth continued to stare, and Bunny began to grumble, Sandy let out a silent whistle. He'd realised that something was up with Jack, but hadn't expected this.

He kept his impatience contained until the last of the farewell pleasantries were over, before making a straight-line dash back to the Winter Sanctuary. Once again it was Marzanna who greeted him, but this time he knew at least part of why she'd been on edge. And he, quite literally, spelt out what he'd learnt at the meeting.

Marzanna winced when she finished reading the sand-woven words above his head, and nodded in answer to the question about Jack causing trouble.

"Yes, yes he has... Bunnymund, while a bit of a hermit, still talks to and is liked by a lot of Spring Legends. He told them about his run in with Jack, and after that those Legends started hassling me and the rest of the Lieutenants of Winter. Never anything physical, just verbal, but Jack found out about it. He thinks Bunny should have kept that incident to himself, and blames him for the trouble that me and the others have suffered... Even if that trouble only lasted four years before it stopped completely. He'd gotten at all those Legends, enough that they realised they didn't want to anger him further."

Sandy drew '5th Year' and a picture of twelve pages of Naughty List, and Marzanna winced again.

"Jack is, for the most part, very mature. He has to be, because he's the Spirit of Winter. But it seems that, when he gets upset about others causing his friends trouble, the part of his personality that makes him fun and cheerful so much of the time, also causes him to be a bit... childish." She was grimacing now. "He's been venting petty anger at the Spring Legends, and Bunnymund, ever since. In part I think it's also being fuelled by his frustration, at failing to expand his power of fun outside of his medium of ice and snow, but he's refused all our suggestions of asking you for help with it. I think he wants to surprise you, after figuring it out for himself."

Sandy let out a silent sigh, shaking his head to himself, before he pointed at himself, then her, and then a picture of her leading him to Jack.

Marzanna nodded, and gestured for him to follow.

"He's this way, in one of the lower caverns. It's where he goes when he's upset but doesn't want anyone to see."

She led Sandy to a narrow tunnel, which sloped downwards steeply. Before long, they'd gone so deep into the glacier, that if not for the ambient glow which came from all walls in the sanctuary, it would have been utterly dark. That was where they found Jack, sat in a small cave with his back facing the tunnel. He was, quite obviously, brooding.

Sandy glanced at Marzanna and indicated she should leave, and waited until she was well out of sight before he stalked over to Jack and yanked him off his icy perch using a whip made of sand.

Jack yelped in shock as he was laid out flat by the manoeuvre, and then Sandy proceeded to scold him with numerous pictures of Bunny and other Spring Legends, waving his finger at him in reprimand, and frowning in deep disapproval. The tirade lasted a full five minutes, with Jack utterly speechless throughout the entire thing, before Sandy turned and left him there without further word.

The little golden man hastened out of the sanctuary, and flew north in the direction of the pacific where Bunny's home could be found beneath the ground of a rise on the southern shores.

The Warren defied the open landscape that lay above it, as a complete contrast to those wide vistas. Here, no cavern other than the one at the core, was larger than fifty yards across, and everything was linked together with a complex and confusing collection of tunnels. There was very little bare earth anywhere, for lush grass and moss covered most of the ground and walls. And as for the rest, there were quite a few bushes, and more than a few flowers which were similar in many ways to those of the world outside, but which were most certainly not those flowers.

After all, no flower that wasn't made by the magic of the Easter Bunny, could sprout eggs that contained chocolate and which walked around on little legs. No flowers other than those here, could cover those eggs with colours and patterns to the designs that their creator had chosen for a particular year.

Sandy had no trouble entering the Warren, even with all the doors shut and locked, for one door in particular would always open for him or the other Guardians. It was an unspoken rule among them, that they never lock each other out of their home bases. Being unable to get in, could cause catastrophic delays during emergencies, not that any had happened since that rule came about.

As such, Sandy wandered into the Warren and followed one of Bunny's stone egg-golems after telling it he needed to speak with him. It took five minutes to traverse the tunnels to where the Pooka was, and Bunny was certainly not expecting visitors.

Because he was wearing the long, green robes he usually wore when at home, and he was asleep on a bed of moss, snoring loudly.

Sandy sighed at finding him asleep, and despite having a dislike of waking people up, he located the goggles that Bunny wore when tinkering with machines in the older parts of his home, and threw them at him.

The eye wear bounced off the side of the Pooka's head, causing him to wake with a jolt and leap to his feet, or rather try too. His feet tangled with the hem of his long robe, and he fell flat on his face beside his mossy bed.

When he righted himself after a few moments of fumbling, he frowned at Sandy and rubbed at his nose where he'd landed on it.

"What gives, Sandy? Don't you have a rule about not waking people up?"

Sandy raised an eyebrow, and then drew a picture of Bunny getting his ears frozen by Jack.

"You know why he's still doing it?"

At Bunny's question, Sandy nodded and drew a new picture. One of Bunny talking to several recognisable Spring Legends, who then went off obviously grumbling to each other. And then he showed them shouting at and bullying, Yuki, Marzanna, Cernunnos, and Zuě Hu. Lastly he drew Jack, watching that, before the little sand figure began chasing the Legends away from his Lieutenants.

Sandy then pointed at Bunny, with great emphasis, and the Guardian of Hope stared.

"I... Yes, I talked to a few of my acquaintances, but I had no idea they decided to give Jack's Lieutenants trouble! You're saying he blames me for them doing that?"

Sandy nodded, as Bunny groaned and folded his ears back.

"I'll admit, the Spring Legends I talked to were pretty incensed at what they called 'a terrible way to treat a Guardian', but I didn't think they'd go off and cause problems. By comparison, the Lieutenants of Spring who stopped by, after hearing the gossip, weren't sympathetic in the least for what I'd gone through. They came for no other reason, than to point out that I'd been lucky and that Jack had been positively mild in what he did. Apparently, if I'd crossed any of the other Spirits of the Seasons in that way, I'd have been beaten up so hard I'd have been lucky to wake up in time for Easter."

Sandy created a new image, of Bunny going to see Jack, and the word 'apologise'. Bunny immediately shook his head vehemently.

"Oh no, no way! It's not my fault those Spring Legends were idiots, picking fights. Why should I apologise?" He frowned. "How did you find all this out, anyway? You didn't even know Jack had been getting payback on those Legends, before the meeting a few hours ago."

Sandy drew a rough picture of a cave under a glacier, with the snowflake symbol of the Winter Sanctuary below it, and them himself flying down a tunnel to get into it. He then showed himself talking to Marzanna.

Bunny stared.

"Wait, you're welcome in one of the Seasonal Sanctuaries?" Sandy drew himself and Jack, with the word 'friends', and Bunny gaped. "What? You're friends with that guy?!"

Sandy pointed at him again, frowning, and again wrote 'apologise', but Bunny turned his back on him and clambered back onto his bed.

"Forget it, Sandy! I don't care if he's your friend, I'm not apologising for something that I didn't do!"

The Sandman floated there, glaring, for several seconds, before he figuratively stormed out of the Warren to make his way back to the Winter Sanctuary. He'd tried his best to arrange a truce, but he doubted Jack would stop freezing Bunny's ears together every year until he did get an apology. Which meant that Bunny had best get used to being ambushed on Easter, because unless Jack decided eventually to let matters rest, the Pooka wasn't going to get a break any time soon.

And Jack wasn't going to get off the Naughty List either.

When Sandy arrived at the sanctuary once more, a rather chastised Spirit of Winter waited for him in the ice palace. Jack looked decidedly sheepish, as he sat in an antechamber he'd long since set up with comfortable chairs and tables should he ever want to entertain guests. He also had hot chocolate waiting, kept warm over the little stove in the corner.

He immediately fetched two mugs of it when Sandy came in, and set them down on the smallest of the tables before they'd settled into the chairs opposite each other.

"I um... I'm sorry, for being an idiot. You were right, I was being petty. I should have stopped bothering them, when they stopped bothering my Lieutenants. I'm not making excuses, but they made Yuki cry, and I just... I let the whole thing get blown out of proportion like a storm that's fed too much warm wind."

Sandy drew a picture of Bunny apologising to Jack, but then struck a line through it and shook his head. Jack snorted at that.

"So you told him he should apologise for the gossip that started all the trouble, but he doesn't see how he's responsible for what those Legends did... Fine, we'll see how he feels about that once I've frozen his ears together a few more times."

Sandy actually rolled his eyes at that, but made no comment. Instead he queried about Jack's efforts, and failures, to expand upon his ability to gift fun and joy.

Jack's shoulders slumped at that, and he stared into his mug of chocolate.

"First I tried to keep the power separate, at that stage where it's just light above my hand, before I combine it with a snowball or a snowflake. But no matter what I did, all I'd end up with was ice-powder, which was useless. So then I tried to make ice that wouldn't melt in warm climates, but all I got was a block that instantly froze anything that touched it, so I can't exactly use that on children, can I? I've been trying the first approach again, but I'm still not getting anywhere with it even after years of trying. I want something that will mix well with what you do, your dreamsand, but everything I've tried will either melt anywhere that isn't cold, or just freeze your sand solid."

A voice spoke from near the door, where Marzanna stood leaning against the door-frame, listening. She had a smile of irony on her face.

"You know, if you'd just thought to ask for help, instead of shutting all of us out, we could have helped you." She came over, stopping near the table although she didn't sit down. "You want to combine your power with that of the Sandman, so that his dreamsand can reach Feared Children. Correct?" Jack nodded, and she sighed as if what she were about to say should be obvious. "Then if you'd asked, you have learnt that dreamsand isn't really sand. It just looks like sand. It is the power of dreams incarnate, in a physical form that was envisioned by its maker. Am I right, Sandman?"

Sandy nodded, and drew an image of a falling star and motes of light left behind it in a stream. He pointed to those glimmers, and smiled, and Jack began to understand.

"You based the form of dreamsand, on stardust?" Sandy grinned, confirming it, and Jack started to laugh. "So if I want to make my power into something that can mix with yours, then I just need to do the same thing! My power of fun won't stay stable without a physical form, but all it knows is snow and ice so that's what it keeps choosing to become! But stardust isn't cold, and doesn't melt, so if I make my power be like stardust, I can send it anywhere no matter what the season or the climate!"

Jack began to fidget in excitement, almost knocking over his mug, before Sandy hit him with just a pinch of dreamsand to calm him down. And then the work began, both of them finishing their drinks, before Sandy put a pile of dreamsand in the middle of the table so Jack could poke at it and examine its form, before the Spirit of Winter then began trying to copy it.

He visualised the ebb and flow of Sandy's dreamsand, the way it shimmered and swirled in the air with a light all of its own. The two of them sat in that room for several days, with Marzanna coming and going to watch in between her usual Thaw Duties. There were even a few frustrated tantrums on Jack's part, before he at last succeeded with Sandy's help.

A few tiny glimmers of light floated above Jack's outstretched hand, glowing blue like his earliest attempts, but this time they looked solid. Barely daring to breath, he then increased the amount of power above his hand, giving it a push and causing that cluster of glowing specks to become a swirl of glittering particles.

Sandy watched with identical fascination, as Jack brought his creation closer to his face to get a better look. And then, with a slight grin, he added yet more power and directed it to flow in a loop around his hand. The blue-white particles obeyed, becoming a stream that looked like a white version of dreamsand but for its colour and the fact it didn't look like sand. Instead it was a fine powder rather than sand-like grains, and it was proving to be far harder to control than Sandy made it look when using his dreamsand.

As proved when Jack attempted to send a stream of his power across the room, and instead got an disorganised puff right in his face. It was just lucky he was immune to the effects of his own power, or he'd have been lying on the floor experiencing a fit of giggles.

The particles dropped to the floor around him as his concentration broke, before he then tried dismissing them with a thought and they vanished into fading glimmers of blue. After several more attempts at directing a stream across the room, Jack eventually settled for filling a small pouch with his new creation before Marzanna spoke with amusement.

"You should call that 'frostdust'. It's made by Jack Frost, and when you drop it on the floor it makes it look like you never learnt what a broom is."

Jack directed a smirk at her for that, and then grinned.

"I may object to that remark, but I like the name." He turned to the Sandman. "Sandy, can we go see if this works? See if we can mix it with your dreamsand to help Feared Children?"

There was a note of plea in those words; Jack's desperate unspoken need to prove he could do something to be a real use to the Guardians, and to all the children of the world. Be they living in cold places or warm, at any time of the year.

Sandy understood that need, he'd seen it in all three of the other Guardians during their early years in the role. And so he and Jack headed out for Northern Russia, the only place where Northern Winter still had it's last fleeting hold on the North of the World.

The two of them waited on the rooftops of Moscow for night to come, and then began to search the streets for a child who had not been reached by the dreamsand in time.

When they found a Feared Child, a young girl tucked in a doorway, Jack handed the pouch to Sandy, who then took a pinch of the dust within and held it in his hand. He then conjured dreamsand, which brightened to a paler gold as the frostdust mixed with it, and then he sent it towards the child.

Both of them watched with bated breath, for the moment when the dreamsand would baulk and be unable to reach the girl because of Fearlings' Touch. But then, after only the barest pause, the dreamsand swept around her head and a glimmer of blue settled over her face. She then sighed, smiled, and the sand became a dream above her.

Two seconds later, Jack was whooping at the top of his lungs, before Sandy quickly hushed him and the Spirit of Winter's voice dropped instead to an ecstatic whisper.

"It worked! Now I just need your help to be able to send it out like you do your dreamsand!"

Sandy hugged Jack in congratulations and similar excitement, before nodding very eagerly. He drew and image of an island of sand, with curled trails leading out from it like the tail of a comet, and waves for Jack to follow him. What better place to learn to wield 'stardust', than the very island that itself had been a falling star? They were off to the Dreamsand Isle, home of Sandy, the Guardian of Dreams.

~(-)~

Alaia Skyhawk: Yep, I've given Jack a new way to use his power other than special snowflakes and snowballs. Because, let's face it, he'd have struggled to bring fun to all the world's children using those, if he didn't want to piss off Ariko, Achieng, and Oisin for creating out-of-season, out-of-climate, snowfalls, snowballs, and just generally hanging around in places where it isn't even his season at that time.

Besides that though, I do have a lot of plot-type things that involve frostdust, planned :)