Secret of Frost and Moon

by Alaia Skyhawk

When death turns out not to be the end, you can't help but ask for what purpose you were brought back... What differences would it make, to remember your past right from the begining? To learn your purpose, piece by piece, right from the start? How would that change the life, future, and secrets of the Spirit of Winter; Jack Frost?

63. Aftermath

Alaia Skyhawk: And here's the next 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 63: Aftermath

The sleigh soared up into the sky, the pond and the boy who stood there passing from view. The light of the sun shining from the horizon like a blessing upon the six immortals in the flying craft.

Jack sighed, at last letting the tension leave him. He was sore, tired and aching, and now that his adrenaline was wearing off his shoulders began to sag. He turned to look at the others, who themselves were also starting to show their exhaustion from the past three days. The only exceptions were Nightlight, who had barely been affected by the Blackout, and Sandy, who hadn't been around for most of it.

Thinking about that made Jack frown a little, as he reached out tentatively to his friend. Almost as if wondering if him being here was just a dream.

"Sandy... How did you survive? I mean, Pitch he... You were gone."

They were all looking at Sandy now, even North who glanced over his shoulder while driving the sleigh. The Guardian of Dreams smiled gently at them, drawing his answer for Jack to translate.

"'I granted your wish'. What does that mean?" Sandy's smile widened, and he drew more. "'In that moment, you wished in your heart that more than anything you wanted me to be safe. You and all those here. So I went to sleep, and granted it'."

Bunny's eyes widened in understanding and he exclaimed.

"You were a Wishing Star Pilot!" He looked at the others. "I knew Sandy back before the Golden Age fell, before he became an immortal. He was great Star Pilot, probably the best. Could fall asleep in an eye-blink and shape a wish-dream just as fast!" He laughed. "You sly bugger! How did you even pull that off? Wish dreams don't normally last longer than a day."

Sandy chuckled silently, and held one of his hands up to the light. Tilting it back and forth so that the white powder coating it, sparkled.

Jack gasped.

"My frostdust! Of course! You were carrying some of it! You used it to extend the power of your dream!"

'And the belief of Jamie and the other children, did the rest.' Nightlight grinned from where he sat on the back of the sleigh. 'Jamie used the First Spell, just like the children of Santoff Claussen once did to revive Bear and Ombric... Ombric was right. Jamie really did turn out to be this generation's "Katherine".'

Tooth blinked at that, as surprised as Bunny and North.

"Wait, so you planned for Jamie to help?"

Jack shrugged.

"Well, we guessed that he would play a big role. Any kid with belief as strong as his is, was going to be an obstacle for Pitch. Ombric and I just made sure learnt everything he needed, to be able to hold onto that belief for as long as possible."

Companionable silence fell among them, lasting for several moments until Tooth sighed.

"Well, whatever plans you made while waiting for Pitch, they paid off... Thank you, Jack."

Jack actually blushed at the praise, and chuckled.

"You're welcome... Now I don't know about you guys, but I really want to find somewhere to sit down and relax after all this chaos."

North chuckled at that as well, and reached into one of his pockets for a snow-globe.

"Yes, we all need rest." He raised the snow-globe and shook it. "Workshop."

The jolt as they went through the portal roused no complaint from Bunny, who by now had either become inured to them or was plain too tired at this point to care. But the Workshop was certainly a welcome sight, numerous yetis crowding round many of the windows watching for their return.

Indeed a large number of them waited in the sleigh's launch tunnel, outside the stable doors, as a sort of honour guard to welcome back the victorious Guardians. And it was now, with them here safe and sound at North's home base, that Nightlight took flight and drifted towards the exit.

He smiled a little sadly as he waved farewell.

'I'd stay, but I must get back to the Moon Clipper. Tsar Lunar will have been able to watch much of the fight using his telescopes, but there is just as much that took place out of his view. I need to report the full chain of events to him.'

Jack gave him a small salute, smiling.

"No worries. We'll see you next weekend at Santoff Claussen, for the victory party. I promised Jamie I'd make up for the trip he and Sophie didn't get yesterday."

Nightlight grinned.

'I'll see you all there.'

With that, the spectral boy sped away down the tunnel to the exit, and once he was gone Jack sighed as his shoulders sagged even lower than they had in the sleigh. He barely noticed the concerned looks he got from the other Guardians, as they headed to the large yet cosy living-room of North's personal quarters.

They each settled into one of the large cushioned chairs near the hearth, although Jack dragged his chair closer to the adjacent window and opened one of the panes just a little. He then yawned, sank deeper among the cushions, and glanced at Tooth.

"I'll deliver the teeth back to your palace, tomorrow. Just tell me where you want them and I'll sort it out."

Tooth blinked, startled, but it was North who spoke.

"Jack, is time to relax. That can wait for few days. Tooth's fairies don't need containers, to go collect the teeth."

Tooth winced a little at that point.

"Although there'll be a backlog of teeth to sort. But it's fine, it won't take long. My fairies have already resumed work, and should sort the incoming teeth by continent. I'll just set a few fairies from each shift to the task of putting them where they belong."

It was now that Bunny sighed, fighting back a yawn of his own. Their adrenaline was definitely wearing off now.

"Mind, I've got a mighty big mess to clear up in the Warren. Those Nightmares trashed more than just the eggs; they hit some of my painting-flowers too." He grimaced. "Four-hundred million eggshells, and melted chocolate, smashed all over the dispatch tunnels."

"Well I guess that's less chocolate to get onto children's teeth."

"Awww, now don't start that again! You and I both know that Halloween does far more damage to kids' teeth than Easter does. I've already changed my chocolate recipe nine times to cut the amount of sugar without losing the taste!"

Over by the window, Jack chuckled at what he figured must be a reasonably regular debate. Certainly not as frequent as the 'Christmas is/isn't better than Easter' one, but often enough. Jack listened to them bicker, knowing they had to be comfortable in front of him to let loose like that, and smiled in contentment. By the time the debate ended five minutes later, and Bunny had turned to ask Jack what his plans would be for the next few days... The Guardian of Fun had completely crashed out and was fast asleep.

The four of them gathered round him, able to see now that which he'd hidden while awake. Jack had been going non-stop for days, taking up the slack for both Tooth and Sandy in addition to wielding his powers across the world for the first time as a Guardian. And then he'd implied he'd been in one fight with Pitch, besides the one in Burgess where he'd been the one to take the most hits. In short, Jack was utterly exhausted and had injuries that needed a few days to heal.

North carefully lifted Jack out of the chair, and then glanced at Bunny.

"Will you make tunnel to Winter Sanctuary? I think Jack needs to rest at his home, in care of his Lieutenants, but snow-globe might wake him, unless we use dreamsand."

Bunny tapped his foot twice on the floor without any hesitation, and nodded.

"Head in, and go up the first exit you see on the left. I've connected it to the main cavern. We'll wait here for you to come back."

North smiled softly and stepped over the edge into the hole, landing lightly on his feet as the borrow closed behind him. A minute later and he was quietly jumping up out of the exit Bunny described, to find an icy cavern that was a bustle of rapid activity.

A handful of tooth fairies, Baby Tooth in the lead, were overseeing a mob of Winter Sprites who were shovelling tooth boxes through one of the large and now repositioned mirrors that had connected to the Tooth Palace, while others were clearing up the shattered ice-golems under the supervision of Marzanna.

She turned to look when she saw the flicker of red at the corner of her eye, and her expression softened from concern to reassurance when she saw the sleeping Spirit of Winter in the Russian's grasp.

She glanced over to where Yuki was breaking up the now empty ice basins that had held loose teeth, and called out softly.

"North's here with Jack. Will you show him where to go? Jack's asleep and needs to be put to bed."

Yuki turned sharply and quickly hurried over, flustering over how battered and tired Jack looked before practically shooing North into motion.

She led him up into the wing of the Ice Palace where Jack's sculpture rooms were, past them, and onwards to the last room along that hallway. North paused at the doorway when she then ushered him into Jack's rather austere sleeping chamber, with it's single Ice Mirror, adjacent chair, and the mounded pile of snow on a platform of ice at the far end.

He paused again when he saw the numerals for year-month-day-time that were recessed into the wall above that 'bed', but was immediately shushed by Yuki when he opened his mouth to ask about them.

She pointed emphatically to the pile of snow, her voice quiet.

"Just throw him into it. Don't worry, landing in snow won't wake him. In fact it'll make him sleep more deeply. Just give me his staff and toss him to the middle of the pile."

When North hesitated, Yuki came over to take the staff herself before using it to point at the pile of snow again until the Russian relented and carefully threw Jack in a small arc that ended at the middle of it. The Spirit of Winter landed with a soft crunch of snow, leaving a perfect imprint in his shape, and Yuki flew up into the air over him.

She set his staff onto the hooks set below the numerals of the clock, before she then pushed the snow around the hole he'd made in over the top of him. To all intents and purposes, 'tucking him in'.

She then shooed North back out of the door and closed it quietly, before facing him to answer the question she'd halted.

"The numerals are part of a perpetual clock built in the small room behind that wall. Ombric designed it for Jack, after he decided he needed something to wake him up at the same time every day." She sighed. "Back when he was still new, just a few decades into this life, when he fell asleep to rest between winters he'd often sleep for a month at a time. He hated that, the thought of the world passing him by while he slept with no real control over how long he'd sleep for. The clock means he can rest in the knowledge he'll be woken up each day, and can count for himself how long he'll let himself sleep."

North nodded in understanding, tactfully reining in his desire to ask more about this new information about Jack. Instead he kept quiet until they were almost back to the palace entrance.

"How long until it wakes him?"

Yuki glanced at him sidelong, the two of them emerging back onto the plaza.

"The chimes went off an hour ago, just after dawn Burgess-time. So it'll be another twenty-three before they go off again."

They stopped at the edge of the plaza, and North again looked to where the sprites were still piling tooth-boxes through the mirror.

"They sending them back to Tooth Palace?"

Marzanna came over, nodding to Yuki who returned to her previous task. The Slavic Legend then pointed to the mirror and started to explain.

"As Jack's Lieutenants, we can move his mirrors even if we can't alter which alternate mirror they connect to. We asked Baby Tooth where the boxes needed to be put, and she showed me a big storage silo at the top of the Tooth Palace. It looked like it stores empty tooth-containers."

North raised his eyebrows.

"Ah, yes, Tooth mentioned that once. When new child is born, new box travels from there to spire for correct continent. That storage connects to all spires, so any containers with teeth in that are put in there, should go to correct spire too."

Marzanna smiled.

"I guessed as much. We couldn't do anything for the loose teeth, those have just been piled up on the main platform within the palace, but Baby Tooth and the other Lead Fairies were very happy when we started shipping the containers through to that silo." She turned and pointed to another relocated mirror that showed the verdant green of the meadow. "We've also sent some sprites to clear up the mess in the Warren. So Bunny doesn't need to worry about everything being clear ready for next Easter's preparations."

North was staring in astonishment now.

"You didn't need to do that. You've already done so much."

Marzanna's smile became wry.

"We did it because we wanted to, and because we knew Jack would end up trying to do it himself. This way we can get him to actually rest, and not flit about getting under our feet in some misguided attempt to help when he's in no shape to."

North chuckled at that and sighed.

"Then I shall do same, and make sure others do too. We all need some sleep after the three days we've just been through."

He pulled a snow-globe from his pocket as Marzanna moved away, returning to the Workshop to find that Sandy had put both Tooth and Bunny to sleep. Two more snow-globes saw both Guardians returned to their homes, before it was North's turn to get a ball of dreamsand to the face. The Sandman passing him to the yetis who came to carry him to his own bed, before curling up on a cloud of dreamsand to relax while sending out dreams to remind more sleeping children about their belief in the Guardians.

~(-)~

When Bunny woke up in his cosy sleeping cave in the Warren, he blinked his green eyes blearily in surprise. It didn't take much to guess that Sandy had knocked him out, and he definitely felt better for having had a rest, but the thought of the mess he still had to clear up got him rapidly to his feet.

He headed out into the main tunnels, rubbing the last dregs of sleep from his eyes, before pausing when an unfamiliar sound reached his ears. There was also an odd smell, like a hint of fur mixed with winter-air. It was something that lingered around Jack, on his clothing, but didn't come from the Spirit of Winter himself. And now it was far stronger than it had been when he'd been in the Warren the day before Easter.

Bunny dropped to all fours and bounded down the tunnel to the main caverns, following the scent and the growing sound of chittering chatter and giggles. He then came to a skidding halt when a new sound, an irritatingly familiar voice, reached his ears.

"Hop to it! Keep up the pace! And careful with those flowers!"

Bunny winced, a feeling of concern starting to rise at the mention of 'flowers'... because the voice belonged to Dig, The Groundhog, and that meant the chittering and smell likely came from a lot of Winter Sprites.

The Pooka stepped out into the light, expecting to see mayhem and all his flowers trampled, and then stopped in surprise. Dig was stood up on the head of one of the big stone egg-golems, directing bands of sprites about like an impromptu general. As for the sprites themselves, some of them were ever so carefully righting and packing down the soil around those flowers that had been uprooted by Nightmares. Others were scurrying all over the place picking up broken eggs, and also using careful touches to freeze gooey melted chocolate solid. Enough so that it could be pulled off what it was stuck to and then dropped into baskets to be carted off by other sprites to be disposed of.

Bunny was still stood there staring, when the now multi-coloured elf that had strayed into the Warren from the workshop came up to him and started to jump up and down in excited greeting. Pointing at the sprites and the already mostly-cleaned tunnels and caves, giggling as if to say 'look at what we've done!'

Dig heard the racket and turned, breaking into a toothy grin as he called out.

"Finally awake, eh? About time too, you've been asleep for over a day!" He now glanced at the elf, who was tugging on Bunny's fur to get his attention. "Oh, and I think you have a new helper. Jack tried to send that guy back to the Workshop, but the little fellow grabbed the leg of one of your golems and refused to let go. Seems he likes it here, so Jack's dubbed him the Easter Elf."

Bunny blinked before glancing down at the elf, who gazed up at him with a pleading expression. After all, the one who had the final say on the matter was always going to be the Easter Bunny himself.

He thought it over for several seconds, before sighing in bemusement and nodding.

"Fine, you can stay and help me out, on one condition. Don't ever damage any of my flowers, or any of the eggs, and don't make a mess in here either. If you cause trouble, I'll send you back to the Workshop. That clear?"

The elf nodded eagerly, grinning as he saluted, before he dashed away to pick up a child-sized watering can that Bunny had a sneaking suspicion that a certain winter spirit had found for him. But then the Pooka had to admit it was pretty adorable, when the elf began to carefully water the flowers that had been replanted.

He chuckled a bit at the sight, and then went over to Dig and the golem.

"So Jack's up and about, is he? Already?"

Dig shook his head.

"Nah, he woke up long enough to check things were going ok here and in the Tooth Palace, and then he spread today's dose of frostdust over the world and went straight back to bed. He'll probably sleep until the weekend, only getting up to do frostdust each day, go the celebration, and then go back to frostdust and sleep for a couple more weeks."

Bunny's ears twitched at different angles, almost as a representation of his confused surprise. Jack was always such a bundle of energy, the idea of him sleeping so long was...

"You think he'll sleep for three weeks straight, besides the party and his daily frostdusting?"

Dig shrugged.

"It's normal for him. Northern Winter is his busiest time of the year, and he's had that big fight with Pitch too this year. He pretty much hibernates for a couple of weeks after Northern Winter ends, to build his energy up again after all the work. The other Spirits of the Seasons sleep a fair bit too, after their peak times. They have to or they'd pass out from being too tired to do their work properly. That's why they have Lieutenants, so we can look after things when they're busy or need to rest."

"Like you're doing now?"

At Bunny's remark, Dig grinned again.

"Yuki is really sweet, but she can be really stubborn when any of us try to work when we're tired. So me and Marzanna are taking charge of the clean-up here and at the Tooth Palace, while she makes sure Jack doesn't give her the slip to go visit the Bennetts."

Bunny couldn't help but frown a little at the mention of Jack's family.

"And how are they?"

Dig smirked.

"You'll find out at the weekend, when they all come to Santoff Claussen to celebrate the Guardian's victory. Yuki is being stubborn with them too. Used the mirror Jack set near the pond, to go check on them. Laura and Craig were really upset that they stopped believing in Jack, but Yuki told them that he has to rest first and reassuring them that everything is fine won't help him do that."

Bunny chuckled.

"She sounds like a real 'mother hen'."

Dig shrugged again, still grinning.

"Nah, Jack says she's the quiet and kind 'little sister', who sometimes decides to be bossy when she thinks we'll do something silly."

A comfortable silence fell between the two furry immortals, something that Bunny honestly found surprising after more than a century of considering The Groundhog to be an irritation. It was strange how events could completely flip your view on things.

The Pooka nodded to himself and turned to head for the tunnels.

"Well I'm off to the Pole to check up on North. I'll leave handling this clean-up crew to your capable paws."

If there was a smart remark from Dig in response to that, Bunny chose to ignore it as he bounded into his network of portal tunnels and connected one of the many exits to the Workshop. And for once it came up where it was supposed to, inside the workshop itself at the top floor near the globe.

He could already hear North bellowing somewhere below, giving instructions and/or corrections to the yetis making the toys. It was a simple matter to head down one of the wooden elevators to the correct floor, and the Russian ceased in is shouting as soon as he saw his fellow Guardian.

In unspoken agreement, the two of them headed to the area of balcony just outside North's personal workroom. Then then leaned on the railings, watching the yetis work, for several minutes before the Pooka spoke.

"I was wondering... Would your yetis like some of my special paints? To use on the toys. The paints that marble together into those really pretty patterns I do on the eggs I paint by paw."

North mulled it over, nodding.

"Yes, I think would be very good. Make gifts for children extra special this year... Would you like me to put some magic on next year's eggs? So when children open them, chocolate inside will be their favourite flavour. Just like my special gifts become thing that child wants most."

Bunny smiled slightly, and nodded as well.

"Yeah, that would be good. Can you imagine their faces when they open my eggs and your gifts? Something made by two Guardians, is always going to be better than if it were made by just one. It'll really be something special."

"Aye, it will. Very special."

The comfortable silence continued for several more minutes, until Bunny spoke again.

"Surprising isn't it? Just how much he's changed us in three days."

North nodded, smiling softly.

"Yes, very. We should have worked together more often than we have been. If we had, Pitch would not have been able to do as much damage as he did." His expression turned wry as he glanced at his fellow Guardian. "It would also have been a lot more 'fun', I think. All this time."

Bunny burst out laughing at that.

"Yeah, you're right." He paused and sighed, thoughtful. "We never realised it, but ever since the end of the Dark Ages, we've been missing something. Manny knew what it was, and he found it for us... He chose Jack not just to protect us, but to bring us back together. After we let ourselves drift apart from each other."

North nodded in agreement.

"Aye... 'Fun' is something that is connected to everything the rest of us protect. Children who feel wonder as they open gifts from me, are also having much fun while doing so. Same for children who hunt for your eggs; is great game for them. Fun is also a big part of childhood memories, and children always have fun in their favourite dreams. Jack's centre makes ours so much stronger, just by being beside us. He is a Guardian of Guardians. One to bind us together as a greater whole."

Bunny sighed, gaze distant as he looked up towards the globe.

"Yeah, hard to believe really. Who'd have thought the Spirit of Winter would be Manny's trump card against Pitch? I can't believe I'm saying this but, I'm glad Jack's a Guardian. I'm glad I was wrong about him, because he's actually a great guy." North raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Bunny snorted. "Don't look at me like that! If you recall, I misjudged you way back when, too."

North started to chuckle, his tone teasing.

"Yes, back when you were recluse. You were totally obsessed with all things to do with eggs, and you avoided eating chocolate because it made you act all 'must fight to save world even if act crazy stupid while doing it'."

Bunny nudged him.

"Oi, I could say similar things about you, Mr Former Bandit. You still technically commit breaking and entering for thousands of houses every Christmas." He tapped a paw on his chest. "And me? So what if I like to sample my work these days? It means I built up a tolerance, and don't go off on a chocolate rush like that anymore."

North nudged him in return.

"Then be grateful only I saw you, during two years after you first start 'sampling'... Mad as March Hare, you were."

Bunny elbowed him, North once more returned the favour, and ten seconds later several yetis were witness to Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny tumbling across the workshop floor. The two of them tussling like brothers having a play-fight, neither willing to surrender to the other.

They were still wresting when an ivy-vine gate opened up close to them, and a Nature Fairy came through carrying a message.

She blinked at the sight, rather surprised, and her glance at the nearby yetis brought one of them to break up the tussle and point her out to North and Bunny.

Both Guardians reacted with slight embarrassment when they realised there was a messenger from Mother Nature, and North inclined his head to her after hastily straightening his clothing.

"Ah um... You have message for us?"

The fairy blandly opened up the small scroll and read the contents aloud.

"In light of the sudden and worldwide Belief Blackout, and the resulting panic and confusion among the Immortals, an emergency conference has been called. The other immortals have already begun to gather, and it is anticipated that most will be in place within a few hours."

Bunny blinked at that, portions of his fur still stood out at odd angles.

"Wow, that's fast. Normally takes three days for everyone to drop what they're doing and show up for a conference."

The fairy's expression remained bland.

"That's because on those occasions, most of the immortals who attend hadn't experienced losing all of their believers on such a wide scale. The Legends are demanding an explanation, as are those Nature Immortals with believers but who do not work for a Spirit of the Seasons." She rolled up the scroll. "Everyone else already knows what happened, but it will save time if it is explained to all the rest at once. A messenger will return to escort you and your colleagues to the conference in twelve hours."

She turned sharply and flew back through the gate, which then vanished. And once it was gone, North let out a resigned sigh as he murmured to his fellow Guardian.

"I suggest we take this chance to get more sleep."

"Agreed."

~(-)~

Alaia Skyhawk: I have to say my favourite bit in this chapter has to be the 'play-fight' between Bunny and North. I've been waiting AGES to write that bit :D