Alaia Skyhawk: Someone asked if Jack's power is what holds his staff and bow to the moonsilver belt/bandoleer under his clothing. Since it's waaaay back that a chapter explained it, it's actually Jack's Belief that holds things in place on the belt. He wills them to stick, so they stick :)

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 86: A Shot Fired True

Far off, half a day later and nigh the other side of the world in fact, the rest of the Guardians and their two mortal allies were rather the odd-ones-out at their present location. Even if the sleigh had not been flying on a road of starlight created by Nightlight, the sight of it and the reindeer pulling it would have drawn attention had they not been in the middle of nowhere. After all, whoever heard of reindeer being found in a jungle.

Katherine peered over the side of the sleigh, frowning as they continued to circle the area.

"Are you sure this is the place, North? There's nothing down there but trees and vines."

North glanced at her, holding up the sword in his grasp. Just as it had done for them in times before, the hilt of the Relic had changed shape to show a globe-map of the world. Two lights blinked on it, one of which was where they were now, and the sword itself was chiming softly with each blink of that light.

"This is definitely the place. If we cannot see the Relic from the air, we must find a place to land and then search on foot."

"There's a fallen tree in that direction." Ombric pointed with his staff. "Do you think the clearing it has created, will suffice?"

North smiled in challenge.

"Only one way to find out. Nightlight, lead on to that clearing!"

The spectral boy nodded, darting ahead of them spreading glittering motes in his wake. What followed, is to say, not the best landing North had ever managed. About the only thing good about it, was that the sleigh remained upright. Because just about nothing else did.

The reindeer snorted as they got up from where they'd tripped and stumbled in the thick undergrowth. Bunny clambered up out of a hole he'd landed in. Ombric was forced to float himself down from a tree, with some assistance from Toothiana and Sanderson. And Nightlight drifted down carrying Katherine, who he'd caught mid-air after she'd been launched out of the vehicle in the same fashion that the wizard had.

They all stared at the way the sleigh was perched drunkenly on top of the very fallen tree that had made the clearing, and after noting the expressions on their faces, North huffed.

"Hey, good landing is one you walk away from. Yes?" He drew his Relic from the scabbard on his belt, and checked the little map before pointing off among the trees. "It's this way."

All of them quickly followed. That is all of them except for Bunnymund. He stood where he was for several moments before he too trailed after the Russian, muttering quietly to himself.

"If this weren't about the fate of the world... and were I not so far from any of my tunnels... I would never get into that sleigh ever again."

The Pooka shuddered at the very thought of ever riding again in something driven by North. But circumstances would mean enduring it, for now.

The group trudged onwards over the rough terrain, North clearing the way for them using his sword. They hadn't landed that far from where they'd been circling above, but it felt like it took forever to get back there from the ground. But when they did, their perseverance was rewarded by the discovery of a suspicious dip in the ground.

It was perfectly round, several meters in diameter, and about three feet deep at the centre. Not only that, but besides a scattering of mosses, fungi, and other small plants amid the covering of decaying leaves, no other plant intruded upon it. Even the roots of the surrounding trees, had buckled up and away from the hollow to form a rough circled of twisted wood. They'd not been able to see this from the air, but there was no mistaking it from the ground. Something had fallen here long ago, forming the crater, and if the sword's signal was to be believed, then that object was still here.

They didn't even need to prompt Bunnymund, as the Pooka hoisted up the hem of his robe so that he could leap cleanly into the hollow. He then began to dig, his paws sending up a veritable fountain of soil and detritus, before he stopped just a minute later with a small gasp of recognition.

What he pulled free was flat and circular in shape, about a foot across, and every speck of dirt magically dropped free of it as it was lifted up. A mirror, wrapped around its edges with twining strands of silver and gold, set with diamonds shaped like tiny stars.

Bunnymund showed it to them, straightening his spectacles.

"The Mirror of Wishing Stars. Do not be fooled by the name, it does not grant wishes, but it is very powerful. When someone looks into it, and states to it their wish to help or protect others, the mirror takes on a power depending on the inner talents of the person who looks. But it only does it once per person, unfortunately. Elsewise the Man in the Moon's father would have used it to defeat Pitch Black and the Fearlings long before they destroyed the Golden Age."

Sanderson glided over, holding out his hands in silent request, and Bunnymund handed the Relic over to him without question. Who better to look after it for now, than the one among them who had formerly been a Wishing Star Pilot.

The dream-maker quickly wrapped it in a satchel made from dreamsand, which he then hung across his torso to keep it safe. He was also the one who wagged a finger at Ombric, when the wizard began to protest that he'd like a closer look.

Toothiana tapped the old man on the shoulder, causing the wizard to look at her.

"Didn't he just say, that it only works for each person once? What if you accidentally used it, while satisfying your curiosity. Your turn would be wasted."

Bunnymund jumped out of the now much deeper crater, brushing bits of dirt from his robe.

"Not necessarily, but it is still wise to take the precaution. The mirror stores the power for a while, although not indefinitely. It would be a real loss, to lose a span of time where those around the mirror would have the strength of their spells amplified. Ombric is already a force to behold, and he would be even more so with the mirror's assistance."

"What?"

Everyone was staring at him, and the Pooka sighed.

"Ombric is a wizard, is he not? His greatest inner talent is his magic, therefore the mirror would reflect that by making all those around it much better at magic for a time. Were I to use it, all of those around it would become much better at time travel... or making chocolate. I'm not sure which."

North was now frowning.

"Sounds to me as though it can be as useless as it could be useful, depending on who looks into it. I am good at magic, true, but I know deep inside that my greatest talent is making things. Being better at building machines or toys, would not help us during a battle against Pitch." He pointed to Nightlight, Sanderson, Toothiana, and Katherine. "Turning tears of fear into weapons might be useful, if all of us could cry in terror on demand. But making dreams, helping people recall childhood memories, or crafting wonderful stories will not stop Fearlings from attacking us or push them away. Only person here who does have a talent that would be useful, is Ombric."

Bemused silence fell, and Toothiana sighed.

"So this Relic will only be good to us once. We'll have to be very careful about when we choose to use it."

Katherine pushed forward into view, jostling North in her effort to get their attention.

"But what about Jack? His talent might be useful."

North shook his head.

"For what? He already told us he is Guardian of Fun. His talent is probably to make others laugh and smile. Laughing at the Fearlings will not help us."

There was another bemused pause, before Ombric thumped his staff on the ground.

"We can discuss this more later, when we have Jack with us. But for now, we should hurry and go find that last Relic."

North nodded, turning and charging off in the lead once more.

"You're right. To the sleigh!"

Katherine shook her head and chuckled at his antics, as they all followed after him. At least the going was faster this time, with the route already cleared. It was a simple matter to retrace their steps to return to the clearing, and it would have been simple for Ombric to lift the sleigh and reindeer clear of the trees with magic so they could leave... if it weren't for what waited for them.

The day's light had already been fading when they'd landed, and by now it was almost gloomy enough for them to need Ombric to create a light for them. Which meant with the clouds overhead, it was more than gloomy enough for Fearlings to come out into the open.

They descended upon the clearing the moment the group emerged into view, only a handful directly harassing them and yet thousands more swarmed in the sky above. And unlike the last time the group had been swamped under like this, there was no helpful population of weapon-toting yetis living nearby.

The group made a dash for the sleigh, and the relative cover that it and the ferocious reindeer provided. But no matter how often North slashed at the Fearlings with his Relic, or Bunnymund shone the pure and dazzling light from the egg-shaped Relic on the end of his staff. No matter how many spells Ombric threw, how many thrusts and parries Toothiana made with her swordsnand the group of smaller fairies she split from herself darted about, or how many strikes Sanderson made with his dreamsand whips... Cornered as the group was, in the cramped jungle clearing, they simply didn't have the space to make a proper counter-attack. The only one who got clear was Nightlight, who even now was zipping around the sky above trying to drive the Fearlings away, but there were too many for him to manage alone.

They were trapped.

~(-)~

Jack flew, his eyes half-closed, gliding through the upper heights of the atmosphere listening to every snippet of gossip from every wisp of wind that came to him. The majority of the information was useless, almost all of it in fact. There were the odd one or two Fearlings sighted here and there, a few cases of mistaken identity for 'tall man-made tower', and just a general sense of unease in the gossip the winds brought.

Were he in his own time, these breezes would be familiar enough with him to know what not to bother reporting, and what he would want to hear about. But lumped with the situation as he was, after half a day he was already being forced to filter through unbelievable amounts of useless drivel in this world-wide search for Pitch and the stolen ship.

After getting another misdirection to a 'man-made tower', this time a lighthouse on the coast of England of all things, a sudden shrill gust blasted past him. So worked up by its rapid journey, that it took several seconds for him to make sense of what it was trying to tell him.

'Big group of Fearlings, jungle south of equator, attacking sled-thing and people on ground.'

Jack grabbed the breeze, taking an imprint from it of where it had come from, and cursed softly. He'd never had need or inclination to make any low passes over the jungles of Central Africa... Back when he had been inclined, Achieng would have tried to scalp him for it. The closest he could create a mirror to where the Guardians were, was at what he considered the bottom edge of the far upper reaches of the sky above them. The height which Ariko, Achieng, and Oisin couldn't fly above and therefore couldn't bother him at.

Jack wasted no time, creating, dashing through, and dismissing a mirror within moments. By the time a couple more moments had passed, he was already plummeting downwards with the winds screaming in his wake due to the speed of his one-minute descent from the altitude of one hundred and sixty thousand feet.

He began to decelerate again to a slow glide as soon as the Fearlings came into sight, for obvious reasons of not wanting to barrel through them and into the ground at a speed in excess of Mach Two. There was also the fact that he needed to assess the situation, which quickly made itself clear as being bad. Everyone but Nightlight was cornered on the ground in a tiny clearing, trapped on all sides by dense trees and jungle. And the Guardian of the Moon was fighting a losing battle up in the air as he was forced repeatedly between defending his companions and defending himself.

Jack accelerated again, to his top battle speed, and ploughed straight through the mass of Fearlings about to strike Nightlight from behind.

Half a dozen of them froze solid as he passed, the rest swirling out of the way, and he saluted to the spectral boy.

"Leave the rest to me. Defend the others."

Jack whipped up a localised gale, channelling it above the trees and opening the way for Nightlight to reach the clearing. But already the Guardian of Fun saw the Fearlings gravitate towards the others and show no interest in him. Hardly surprising, since he had not the slightest bit of fear of them. But everyone else did, and the creatures were drawing from it the strength to drive to keep attacking.

Nightlight also noticed the attention he was getting, although certainly didn't know the exact reason, and changed direction upwards into the horde. There was clear air above the gap in the forest canopy, but the distraction wouldn't last long. Staring at it, Jack knew there was no way he could direct a stream of frostdust fast into that gap with any accuracy at the range of a quarter mile. Accuracy with frostdust-streams had always been his biggest failing with them, hence why he relied on the world's natural air-currents to do most of his distribution for him.

But even as he remembered that fact, he remembered something else. His left hand reaching under the back of his cloak for the wooden bow-grip that hung there.

The bow-limbs of ice sprouted from it as soon as he pulled it clear, Jack accelerating upwards, forwards, and to the side to get a clear shot into the clearing past the Fearlings high above it. The sleigh was an unmistakeable sight, and a more than large enough target.

Jack drew the bow, conjuring a large arrow of solid frostdust with just the lightest core of fragile ice to stabilise it. He then took aim at his target four hundred and fifty yards away, whispering to the winds to guide his shot... and fired.

Down on the ground, Sanderson, Toothiana, and her group of fairies were hovering just above the sleigh as guard against more Fearlings coming down at the group. Ombric, Bunnymund, and North were on guard below them, while Katherine had been tucked inside the sleigh itself where she would be most easily defended. They saw the surge of wind that pushed the Fearlings aside, and saw Nightlight dash among them. And then they caught just a moment's glimpse of the one who conjured that wind, before something blue-white shot away from him and straight towards them.

Despite knowing Jack was their ally, reflexes still had North, Ombric, and Bunnymund clump around Katherine. Toothiana and Sanderson then pulled close to them. Thus when the odd arrow plunged in amongst the group and exploded in a cloud of glistening powder, there wasn't a single one of them that escaped it.

Up above a few seconds later, the Fearlings went eerily still when a chorus of helpless laughter erupted from the clearing below them. A few of them then started wailing, the sound of such pure joy like torture. And then to add insult to injury, Jack plunged in amongst them wearing a huge grin. The Guardian nailing Nightlight with a fun-laced snowball to the face.

That last bit of nearby Unnatural Fear snuffed out, with only laughter and happiness radiating from their targets, the Fearlings scattered. So confused by what was going on, they had no idea how to react to it except to flee.

Jack watched them go, jeering at their retreating forms.

"Where you going? You're not scared of people having fun, are you? Wimps!"

A short way away, Nightlight was staring at him with the oddest expression on his face. Because his eyes were wide with surprise, while below that he was grinning and chuckling quietly. He couldn't help himself, he just had to laugh.

Down on the ground things were far less composed. Sanderson was curled up his side on a cloud of dreamsand, giggling silently. Tooth's fairies had dematerialised and she was laughing so much she couldn't fly. Ombric's beard and moustache were doing some extremely strange contortions as he chortled in mirth. Katherine was clutching the side of the sleigh and giggling so much her eyes were watering. North was howling with laughter, and Bunnymund looked like he had a severe case of the hiccups. Because of out all of them, he was the only one that seemed to still be in some sort of control of himself.

North noticed that, managing to rein in his laughing as he remembered a certain conversation that happened a few days previous. Before the rescue of Katherine, and well before Jack's arrival. A conversation about a certain thing called humour, and what people usually did in response to it.

"You're laughing!"

The Pooka 'hiccuped' again, his ears sticking out at odd angles and his arms wrapped around himself as though trying to hold something in.

"N-no... I'm n-not."

Another chuckle spluttered its way past North's lips.

"Yes you are!"

Bunnymund twitched again, the next 'hiccup' emerging as a two-second burst of tightly-squished and therefore twittery giggles. He clamped a paw over his mouth, muttering around it.

"I... am... not!"

Another burst of giggles got free, and North could help himself no more. He started to point and howl with laughter again.

"You told me Pookas don't laugh!"

Sat inside the sleigh as she was, the sight of the Russian falling over with mirth sent Katherine into louder peals of laughter as well. And her reaction was all it took to push Bunnymund past the point where he could hold it in no more.

The Pooka burst out laughing, far louder than any of the rest of them, and fell over backwards helplessly in the process. Up above, Jack watched the whole scene creased with chuckles of his own, before he forced some composure on himself and headed down.

"Ok, I think I'd better sort that out."

He landed a few feet from the sleigh, drawing as much of his power out of them as he could. Until after a few moments things calmed down and they all either lay or sat there getting their breath back. Except for Bunny, who was still overcome with quiet giggles off to once side. They were all also still grinning like idiots, but that couldn't be helped after the huge dose of Fun Jack had hit them with.

Nightlight landed beside him and put a hand on his shoulder in thanks, before pointing out the evening sky to the others. A sky which was now empty of Fearlings. He then glanced at North, eyebrows raised, and inclined his head to indicate Jack.

Ombric got the message and raised his eyebrows as well, even as North flushed red in chargin.

"What was that you said, North? That laughing at Fearlings would not help us?"

~(-)~

Alaia Skyhawk: Yep, the bow has solved at least some of Jack's long-range frostdust accuracy problems... lol, when he gets back to the future, he's going to be stealth-sniping people from behind for pranks. And yes, that means he WILL be taking that bow home with him, in case you'd not guessed that hehehe :)

And yes, you may have also noticed, that I put the source of Bunny's later sleigh-phobia in this chapter ^_^